


Over, Under, In Between

by LanternJawedStudmuffin



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Casual Sex, Christmas, Cunnilingus, Drag Queens, Drinking, Drinking Games, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Friendship/Love, Halloween, Lesbian Sex, Long Aimless Stretches of People Just Chilling, M/M, Oral Sex, Partying, Pining, Recreational Drug Use, Requited Love, Requited Unrequited Love, Sex Toys, Sexuality Crisis, Strip Poker, Unrequited Love, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2019-09-19 20:20:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17008554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanternJawedStudmuffin/pseuds/LanternJawedStudmuffin
Summary: Once high school is over, nothing is ever the same. Usually that's a good thing, sometimes... maybe not.One thing is certain: It will always suck to want someone you can't have.





	1. Been A Long Time Coming

**Author's Note:**

> Some context: this fic is just an extended RP between Stud and Muffin with the premise, 'what if we flipped our usual character conventions?' We've compiled the various scenes and are writing them out during our unplanned hiatus!
> 
> We WILL be returning to our other ongoing KH fics! Life has gotten in the way a bit, but we hope to have them posted as soon as we can! We hope you enjoy this in the meantime!

College, man.

 _College_.

The semester hadn't even started, and there already seemed to be a million things to do. The campus was overrun with students, new and returning, while they argued with the financial department about their right to pay their tuition in blood or tried to sort out course corrections.

They'd come today with legitimate business, but were a little bogged down. Their exploration had brought them into the path of everyone with a leaflet or complimentary merchandise, which meant Sora was now loaded down with three different fabric bags bearing the school logo. Neither Roxas nor Kairi had wanted theirs.

“So, rugby would interfere with basketball, but I could still go out for wrestling,” Sora thought aloud, engaged in battle with a sports' schedule. “Obviously Struggling is the big one, so no matter what I have to get on that team.”

Kairi spoke between checking her phone in one hand, the various team and club pamphlets in the other, and where they were going. “If I try out for volleyball instead of something like hockey, am I betraying myself as a feminist?”

A half step behind them, Roxas chose to grouse rather than be overwhelmed by how much extra they were already planning on taking on. All three of them were fresh out of high school, and he wasn't sure how well he was going to adapt to... this.

His schedule seemed more free than it used to be, but he knew better than to think he'd be less busy. Any free time Roxas could scrape out of his week, he'd probably spend recovering from the ass-kicking a new life experience doled out.

But his cousin was the pinnacle of 'jock', so Sora probably couldn't fathom going through a year without sports. Roxas wasn't convinced they were related.

With Roxas neglecting to contribute to the conversation and Sora waffling over sports teams, Kairi didn't receive an answer.

“You know what, I'll ask Namine,” she declared, texting her the same question.

They were making their way towards a large waiting area in front of the various information kiosks and registration. Sora had made loose plans to meet someone here, and he wrenched his gaze up to start scanning the throngs of students.

Watching for his ticket number to be called, Axel knocked back a soda and scanned the summaries of his chosen courses on his phone. He was positioned very awkwardly with his legs up over Riku's lap. “Is it too early to be considering dropping classes?”

“Yes.” Riku barely heard the question. While he wasn't craning his neck to look around, he was still on high alert.

He hadn't seen Sora or Kairi since he graduated, one year ahead of them. He twitched every time he saw bushy brown hair, anticipating the reunion in spite of his nerves.

“I'm already dreading Chemistry,” Axel bemoaned.

Unsympathetic, Riku reminded him, “You like Chem.”

“But I _hate_ Vexen.”

Fifteen feet behind them, Sora spotted familiar silver hair, and his eyes went wide. “There's Riku! Riku!”

Roxas cringed. “Sora, come on, we're in public -”

“ _Riku!_ ” Ignoring Roxas, Sora charged ahead. Shrugging by way of apology, Kairi sprinted after him.

Riku shoved Axel's legs, sitting up with the start of a grin. “That's him -”

“Oh, is it?”

Riku barely got up in time to turn around before Sora threw himself at him without a second thought. He hugged back, starting to laugh. “Been a while, huh?”

“No kidding. I'm never gonna forgive you for working all summer.”

“I'll never make that mistake again.” Trying not to get too caught up in holding him, Riku lifted his head and shot his smile over Sora's shoulder. “Kairi! Hey!”

Naturally, Axel was curious about the two Best Friends he had heard so much about. He shifted to drape himself over the back of his chair.

And then he stared, because he and Roxas had both noticed each other. And they'd both looked too long to pretend they hadn't.

Nonetheless, Roxas made a clumsy attempt to act like he hadn't realized it was him. It was too late to make a run for it; this would have to do.

“Hi, Riku,” Kairi smiled, coming up to them and tilting her head. She was calculating whether or not she should add herself to the pile Sora and Riku had created. “It's been too long, you jerk.”

Riku wrestled an arm free to hug her, too. She happily sank into it.

Recovering from his surprise, Axel looked away from Roxas. “So these are the best friends forever. You two are legends.”

“I should hope so,” Kairi said.

“You're Axel, right?” Sora asked.

Roxas was deeply uncomfortable. He contemplated sneaking away, but he actually did need to talk to registration to sort out some things in his own program.

“Aw, Riku, you told your friends about me? You're so sweet,” Axel gushed.

Riku rolled his eyes. “That's Axel, yes.”

“You can tell how much he loves me through tone alone.”

Sora laughed. “So everyone knows each other, except – hey, where's Roxas?”

Kairi looked up. “He was just with us...”

“Roxas?” Riku had barely noticed him. He'd kind of forgotten other people existed.

“That's really weird, he – oh, I see him,” Sora said, and pointed him out. “He's at one of those ticket vending machine things.”

Grabbing his number, Roxas looked for a seat as far away from their group as possible.

He was not, in any way, ready to face this yet.

“Forget 'im,” Axel shrugged. Riku almost frowned, recognizing that Axel was being far too dismissive for Roxas to be a stranger to him.

That was weird.

Sora laughed. “What are you talking about? Roxas! Over here!”

God, Roxas wished Sora wasn't so loud. There was no way to conceivably pretend not to have heard him. Cursing him out in his head, he dragged himself around and in their direction.

Speaking to Kairi, Axel snorted, “Riku failed to mention that his boyfriend had the volume capacity of a foghorn.”

“Don't.” Riku threw him a warning look. “You _know_ it's not like that.”

Shit, right. Axel had forgotten that might _actually_ be a sore spot. “I kid. I know I'm your one true love.”

“Uh -” Startled, Kairi tried to decide whether or not to be offended on Riku's behalf, communicating with him with a look.

He rolled his eyes, trying to convey that this was just how Axel was. Kairi settled.

Nice to know they hadn't lost their pseudo-telepathic touch.

“I'll try not to be too affectionate with my best friend, then, don't want you to get confused,” Riku retorted.

“Or jealous,” Axel said.

Within earshot, Roxas came to stand by them. All the chairs in the area were taken up. “You don't have to keep babysitting me...”

Sora was still practically in Riku's lap. “It's only babysitting 'cause Uncle Cloud is paying me by the hour to make sure you don't get lost.”

“Shut up.”

Riku snorted. “So, you're attending HBU too, huh? Sora didn't mention you'd applied.”

“You don't tell Riku everything about me, how could you?” Roxas's tone was dry.

“What? Sure I did.” Sora's brow furrowed. “I think I did, anyway...”

Riku ruffled Sora's hair. “Dork. Good to see you, in any case.”

“Our number's almost up,” Axel interjected, calling Riku's attention to the monitor directing ticket holders to different desks.

“Yeah...” It was about then Roxas realized that Axel had decided to ignore the situation, and him. He made a snap decision of his own. “Hey, Axel.”

Surprised, Sora looked around. Axel's was milder, and he offered the barest nod as he got up. “Hey. I'm getting a refill – Riku? Drink?”

“Water would be good.”

Roxas's eyes narrowed slightly. He exhaled and looked the other way. Fine, that's how this was going to be.

“Cool. If anyone else wants something, pay up,” Axel extended a hand, accepting Riku's bill.

“I'm okay,” Kairi said.

Sora was distracted, doing mental calculations as he tried to figure out how Roxas could know Axel. He dug around in his pocket for change. “Can you get me a Coke or a Pepsi or whatever they have?”

“Sure thing.” Axel took the money and headed off to the machine.

Waiting until Axel was gone, Riku asked, “So, uh, you know each other?”

Roxas shrugged, holding in a sigh. He wished he'd just avoided them, now. “Doesn't matter.”

“Alright...” Riku raised an eyebrow.

Apparently, that mystery was no longer interesting, because Sora brightened and moved on. “So, what teams are you on, Riku? Do you stay on them this year or do you have to try out again?”

“Tryouts are yearly, but they'd be idiots to pass me over.”

“Well, now you have _me_ to compete with, so you better watch your back,” Sora announced, elbowing him.

Riku smirked. “I'm not worried.”

“Tell me what you're going out for so I can do it, too.”

“Struggle is obvious, track, hockey...”

Axel wandered back with three bottles in hand. “Coke for Sora, water for Riku...”

“Duh – oh, thanks!” Sora twisted the cap off immediately.

“I live to serve.”

“You really don't,” Riku said.

“Yeah?” Axel purred. “I've served _you_ just fine.”

Either that didn't register with Sora, or he was too caught up in his revelation to care. He snapped his fingers. “I got it!”

“Huh?” Riku gave Sora a strange look.

“You're the other person I know who went to Roxas's high school!” Sora declared. “I remember you mentioned it, Riku.”

Roxas's stomach sank.

He'd really hoped Sora would’ve dropped it.

“Oh -” Riku's eyes were wide as the puzzle pieces clicked into place. “... Uh, oh.”

“High school was a lifetime ago,” Axel replied.

Roxas said nothing, quietly gutted.

“Yeah! That must have been crazy, going to a school with only guys. I couldn't survive it,” Sora said.

Axel grinned. “That's adorable.”

Perhaps one of the only people aware of the sexualities of all present parties, Kairi inwardly cringed and exchanged a look with Riku. “You make it sound like a way bigger deal than it probably was.”

“But, like, no girls?” Sora looked at her fondly. “No _you?_ ”

Kairi's smile was slightly frozen, and she teased, “Maybe you would have actually gotten some work done.”

Sympathetic to Kairi's plight (since he was the other one privy to everyone's orientation), Riku had to resist the need to bury his face in one hand. “We still would've been friends, I bet.”

“Worked for me just fine,” Axel claimed. “The dating pool at an all-boys school is incredible, when you have hips like these.”

“You're so vain,” Riku snorted.

“Why not? You think I'm pretty, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Riku rolled his eyes and took a swig of water.

Sora's brain had stalled. “Huh?”

Axel was still opting to pretend Roxas didn't exist. The guy had no reason to care how he acted with Riku, anyway. “You know that if you don't /tell/ me how attractive I am once every few hours, I wither.”

“I'll tell you all about how pretty you are later,” Riku said.

“That sounds promising.”

Kairi held in a giggle, but couldn't help but smile. She hadn't seen Riku so comfortable flirting... ever, actually. When he came out in high school as gay, it was with an edge of aggression and defiance, like he had prepared himself to lead a crusade fighting for his right to be who he was. Now, he just seemed like he fit. Like he'd finally realized he could just _be_ who he was.

But also, she wasn't sure if his flirting was a joke, or legit. She didn't want to laugh if there was something serious between them.

Sora, however, was laughing it off, pretty sure Axel was too ridiculous to _mean_ it. He'd also kind of... not realized what Riku had meant, back then, and glossed right over it. “What about me, Riku? Am _I_ pretty?”

Abruptly decided Sora was on his own here, Roxas muttered something about his number being called and turned on a heel. Axel started to laugh.

“Uh-...” Caught off guard, Riku hoped he hadn't just turned red. “Don't you start...”

The blush was not what Sora had expected. He'd thought Riku would shove him or something, not... that. His laughter faltered. “Kidding, man. Obviously.”

Kairi fought the powerful urge to put Sora in a headlock until he lost consciousness.

“ _I_ think you're pretty,” Axel offered.

“Sora's straight,” Riku reminded him.

“Oh. That only makes you marginally less attractive, don't worry.”

Sora looked blank. “... What?”

“What, 'what'?” Axel grinned.

Riku caught Kairi's eye. She covered her mouth with one hand, appropriately despairing.

“Oh, you're actually-... ah geez, sorry,” Sora fumbled, embarrassed. “I just thought 'cause you were messing with Riku... My bad.”

“I do more than _mess_ with Riku,” Axel said.

Riku could have smacked him, but he knew how that would escalate. “Sora doesn't need to hear about that.”

Still obliviously eager to hear anything concerning his best friend – or a friend of his best friend – Sora asked, “Hear about what?”

“Why wouldn't he want to hear about your sexual exploits? They're a mark of your success. You're doing a great job at this whole 'college' thing,” Axel said.

Riku gave in and buried his face in his palm. Sora's colour drained slightly.

“Uh...”

Kairi leapt to her feet, phone in hand and desperate to save the day. “Namine's on campus, want to go meet her?”

Somewhat distantly, Sora replied, “Nah, I'm good... you go.”

“I've got to hang around here, but tell her hi for me.” Riku sounded a little muffled, and not at all deeply betrayed that Kairi would leave him to this. She gave him a shrug and a wide-eyed look that said 'I tried'.

“Yeah, I will. See you!” Guilt pierced her through as she gathered up her stuff and took off.

“Bye...” Sora still sounded a little vacant and overwhelmed.

“We should really change the subject,” Riku shot Axel a pointed look. “Sora doesn't need to hear about my love life.”

“Aw, _love?_ ”

“Sex life,” Riku amended.

“Ouch. I was genuinely touched, for a second,” Axel frowned.

Going from pale to bright red, Sora was lost for words... until he let out a shaky laugh.

It was then that Axel realized Sora hadn't _known_. “I'll go check on our numbers, see if we're up soon.”

Yup, he was going to avoid the hell out of this conversation. Up and off he went.

Getting nervous, Riku fought to keep his cool and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Fine, I'm fine, uh-... What?”

“You seem-...” Riku sighed, glancing uncomfortably away. “I didn't know whether or not this would be weird for you.”

“What's weird? Why would it be weird?” asked Sora, distinctly being weird.

“We never really talked about this. I know Roxas is gay and that's never bothered you, but this is kind of different...”

“So...” Sora hesitated. “You are gay. For sure.”

“Uh. Yeah,” he confirmed.

“That's okay!”

He'd said that a little too loudly. It was still weird.

“I know – I mean, is it?” Riku looked a tad concerned.

Sora laughed, pulling back a bit and giving his arm a playful slap. “Of course it is. You're my best friend, dude.”

Riku relaxed marginally. Sora wouldn't lie, at least. “Couldn't get rid of you if I wanted to.”

“You got it. So, what other teams are you going for?” Sora took Axel's vacated seat.

Grinning, Riku was happy to return to chatting about sports.

 

* * *

 

“That sure was a thing.”

Axel stretched, and stretched hard. His back arched in a way that almost looked painful. “You sound underwhelmed, and I know that can't be the case because I am super good at sex.”

Sitting on Axel's bed and combing out his mussed hair with his fingers, Riku rolled his eyes. “Wasn't talking about the sex. I was talking about earlier today.”

“Ah, yeah – awkward,” Axel agreed. He lazily scanned the floor for his boxers. “I thought you said you were out in high school. How did Sora just _not know?_ ”

“I was talking about you and Roxas, not me and Sora.” Riku paused. “But while we're on the subject, lay off him a bit, okay? Sora just has these ideas about... what people are like. He doesn't mean anything by it, he just forgets that not every girl is a princess and not every guy is a knight in shining armor. I don't think he really understood that other sexualities exist until Roxas had his big coming-out fit.”

Axel remembered that. Roxas had tried to run away from home. He'd been in ninth grade; Axel, in eleventh. The plan had been for Roxas to lie about his age and work odd jobs until Axel graduated, then they were going to go abroad, never stop traveling.

Of course, Roxas had been spotted breaking into the clock tower and was picked up by the police. His father had been extremely unimpressed.

Good times.

They would have been good, at least, if the memories weren't kind of tainted.

“What about me and Roxas?”

“Is he... y'know. _The_ ex?”

Axel rolled over onto his front, forgoing his boxer-search. “If I blow you again right now, will it come off as suspicious? I don't want it to look like I'm dodging the question.”

Riku dropped a pair of underwear on the back of Axel's head. He grabbed at them. Ah, there they were.

“He's the guy, yeah,” Axel conceded. “I don't know, though, I thought it was surprisingly... not uncomfortable? Or, less uncomfortable than expected? I didn't know he'd be coming to Hollow Bastion, though.”

“Are you gonna be okay?”

Axel buried his smirk into his pillow. “Aw, you're worried about me. You really do care.”

Riku shoved him in an attempt to roll him over. Axel laughed.

“I'm serious,” Riku insisted. “I know I missed the worst of it, but what I saw was pretty bad. You've been a good friend since I started here, so, yeah. I do care.”

“Gay.”

“Shut up. I just want to know if there's anything I can do to make this easier on you.”

Axel turned over onto his back. “Honestly? Not really. And I don't mean that in the brooding, depressing 'there's nothing you can do' way. I'm good. It's been two years since he dumped me – I'm over it, now.”

Riku looked him over critically. “... I invited Sora to Marluxia's start-of-term party, and said he could bring along whoever. So, we might see Roxas there. If you _do_ need me to interfere or keep things from getting... I don't know, bad... I'll be there.”

Axel reached up to ruffle Riku's hair, just to aggravate him. “You're being too sincere. It's creepy.”

“Fuck you, I just got the tangles out. And I look out for my friends.” Riku grimaced as he started the process of smoothing his hair out again. It was getting way too long.

“This is probably where Sora got the 'knight in shining armor' thing from,” Axel snorted. “That's you to a T.”

Riku smacked him with another article of clothing. His own boxers, this time. Axel put them on over his own.

“Now you're gonna have to walk around without underwear. How embarrassing for you.”

“You do that all the time,” Riku pointed out with an arched eyebrow.

“When I do it, it's sexy,” Axel corrected. “Seriously, I'm fine. It sucked to be single for the first year of college. And... over the first summer. And for a while into the second year. That's a long enough time to mourn my high school relationship for, don't you think?”

Riku was quiet for too long.

“Which isn't the same as mourning a relationship that hasn't happened yet, might I add.”

“And never will,” Riku said. He looked around for more clothing to hit Axel with and came up with nothing. Where the hell had his shirt gone? His jeans?

“He's cute, though,” Axel added. “So _painfully_ hetero, but very cute.”

Riku gave in to a laugh. “Yeah. That's Sora for you.”

Emphasis on 'pain'.

Maybe distance had been what Axel had needed to get over Roxas, but he was right – nothing had ever happened between Riku and Sora, and that meant distance had only strengthened his longing.

Still, he was too glad to have his best friends back to let unrequited love get him down.

He'd get over it.


	2. Party Hard - No, Harder

Not bad for a day's work. Namine tucked her hair behind her ear, closing her closet door and appraising her new dorm room. It was a single, which was nice – she wouldn't have minded a roommate, but she had to admit that it would be nice to be able to work at all hours without disturbing anyone. She'd need to send a thank-you card to her benefactor.

Her education was mostly paid for by her foster family. They really didn't need to, since she'd managed to pay for her first year of college with bursaries and scholarships, but it was deeply appreciated. She might not have been able to join her friends abroad if they hadn't.

Speaking of her friends, she was due to meet them...

Outside her door, Kairi crushed her purse strap as she twisted it back and forth. She was a moment away from knocking on Namine's door, but desperately needed to check her lip gloss first.

Not that it mattered. Why would Namine mind if her lips weren't glossy? Silly, to think she'd be interested in Kairi's appearance one way or another. Certainly not in a gay way.

She was in the midst of smacking her lips and trying out one of those sexy model pouts when Namine opened the door with a smile, adjusting one of her sandals. “Kairi!”

Kairi froze for all of a second, trying to pass off her undoubtedly ridiculous expression as natural and greeting her at a higher pitch than normal. “Hi! Ready to go?”

“Mhm.” Namine lowered her foot and slid the other sandal on. “Is everything okay?”

“Nope!” Kairi blushed. “I mean, yes. I thought you asked if something was wrong, and it's not, so...”

Namine giggled. “Oh, good. I thought you might be nervous.”

Oh god, what did Namine know?!

“Nervous? Come on, you know me better than that,” Kairi laughed as though she wasn't sweating.

“It's been a year since we've really had a chance to hang out with Riku... I was a bit nervous earlier. A lot can change in a year...”

Momentarily anxious, Kairi wondered for a second if she should remind Namine of Riku's sexuality. “We've got nothing to worry about. With Sora there, it'll be like no time has passed at all.”

“I hope so.” Namine bit her lip once. She'd only joined their social circle in the middle of high school, and was always a little afraid of being forgotten. Kairi wished she could hold her hand to reassure her.

“Are you all done moving in?”

“... Sure! Define 'all done' real quick?”

Namine giggled. “Have you _started_ unpacking?”

“I got some stuff out of a box...”

“Would you like any help? I'm pretty good at organizing things,” Namine offered.

An opportunity to get Namine over? Hell, Kairi would _repack_ everything she'd put away just to get a few more minutes of Namine's time.

Not that she was sad or desperate in any way.

“I could probably use the help. You're sure you're not busy?”

“Never too busy for a friend,” Namine replied.

Kairi smiled fondly. “Let's go, before they decide to come looking for us.”

“Yes!” Namine locked up her door and walked alongside Kairi to the elevator. They chatted on the way to the cafe about campus features, dorm life, and their programs. All good, platonic topics of conversation that covered for the fact that Kairi was noticing something new and lovely about Namine with every word, every motion.

And she'd been infatuated since high school, so she would've thought she'd have run out of attractive qualities by now.

They reached the cafe and spotted Sora's distinctive hair, able to pick up their conversation from the door. It was hard to miss either one of their voices when they were in the midst of trying to one-up each other, Sora having started attempting to 'win' by sharing stories of the longest time spent without sleep.

“ - I _function_ better, though,” Riku was saying. “You turn into a mess without sleep. Grouchy and basically non-functional.”

“Yeah, but you're grouchy _all_ the time,” Sora argued.

Riku frowned. “No, I'm not.”

Sora extended a finger, pointing to Riku's frown. He nearly poked his cheek but stopped just short of touching him.

“... That doesn't prove anything.” Riku batted his hand away. Sora snorted.

“Hey, boys!” Kairi beamed as they came around the booth.

“It's good to see you both,” Namine greeted, a little more shy in her smile. Riku grinned at her.

“Hey! It's been a while,” he said.

Sora jumped up to hug them both, turning a very faint pink when he embraced Kairi. Though it wasn't the first time Namine had noted a reaction like that, she naturally had too much decorum to point it out.

“It really has...” Namine took her hug from Riku, next. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good. Better now that my friends are all here,” Riku admitted.

“What about Axel?” Sora asked, and it would've been oh-so breezy if he didn't trip over his words a little. “You guys are... friends, right?”

“Yeah, but he's not the same as you guys,” Riku replied.

Sora laughed. “No kidding.”

Kairi covered a subtle wince, and Riku held in a sigh. They both wished he hadn't laughed.

“Want to get yourselves a drink?” Riku asked, rather than linger on the moment. He took his seat again.

“I'll go!” Sora volunteered. “You want me to get you something, Kairi?”

“Oh. Sure, okay! You know what I like.” Kairi slid into the booth seat across from Riku.

“I might go up, too. I haven't seen their menu before,” Namine said.

“They have a lot of different tea you might like,” Riku told her.

“Sure! We can get stuff for everyone,” Sora beamed.

Rummaging for a bill, Riku passed it to Sora. “Mind grabbing me a black coffee?”

“Okay, _dad_ ,” he snorted.

“We'll be right back!” Namine said cheerfully, following Sora off to the counter. Rolling his eyes, Riku turned to Kairi and gave her a rueful smile.

“Oh boy,” she exhaled.

“He's still really into you, huh.”

“Yep.” Kairi drew out the 'y' sound, gazing after the two of them.

“And you still like -?”

She cringed. “Is it that obvious?”

Riku could relate. “It was kind of obvious back in high school, too. You talk about Namine the way I talk about-... you know.”

Kairi gave him a sympathetic look. “So the way you feel about him hasn't changed all this time?”

“Not at all.” Riku glanced over at Sora. “I missed him... College is great, but. I didn't feel right without being able to see him every day.”

She reached over, put a hand over his. “I thought maybe Axel-...?”

“No, definitely not. We have fun, though. And another friend of mine, Demyx – you'll meet him if you guys come to the party,” Riku said.

“Wait, hold up. Two guys?” Kairi looked impressed. “ _Riku_.”

Riku laughed, reddening a bit. “It's easier to find people like us in college.”

“You're doing better than me,” she sighed. “I've never even been with another girl. Well, except-... No, that didn't count.”

“... Was it Selphie?”

Kairi grinned, embarrassed. “How'd you know?”

“Only girl I can think of who wouldn't count. She's _so straight_.”

Hands going to her mouth, Kairi barely suppressed her guilty giggles, voice slightly muffled. “God, she's _so_ straight, Riku. You don't even know.”

“Too bad. You'd be cute together,” he laughed.

“Don't even start, that was a _disaster_.”

Riku gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze, still grinning.

Slightly flushed from laughing, Kairi said, “You'll still be my husband if I'm alone in my fifties? Sexy college boys or no?”

“Definitely. I already have a ring in mind.”

“You really know how to make a gay girl feel special.” Her smile faded to something gentler. “Seriously, even though our love lives are doomed, I'm really happy for you. I've never seen you look so relaxed or smile so easily. It's like you had this huge weight lifted off of you.”

“It feels that way. I hope you get to experience the same thing.”

“I guess if you can manage to tear your eyes away from them, so can I,” Kairi hummed.

“Just don't forget me when you meet some pretty girl in your program,” Riku said.

Kairi smirked. “That depends just how pretty she is.”

“Harsh.”

“You've had a whole year, Riku, I'm just saying.”

He laughed. “Even harsher.”

Kairi laughed in return, running her fingers over his knuckles. Stunned surprise flashed over Sora's face as he and Namine returned, but he buried it quickly.

“Drinks are here!” he announced, furtively glancing between Riku and Kairi.

Namine took a seat. “I bought some cookies to share, too.”

“Sweet, thanks.” Riku took his coffee from Sora.

“But I licked all of 'em, so they're mine,” Sora said, sliding a hot apple cider to Kairi.

“ _Ew_ ,” Kairi grimaced.

“I call your bluff.” Riku grabbed a cookie and took a bite.

“I licked that one the most,” Sora informed him seriously. “Namine knows.”

“Mhm. Three times,” she said.

Riku snorted. Oh no, Sora spit, what a nightmare for someone who spent a lot of time fantastizing about putting their tongue in his mouth. “I'll probably survive.”

“How old are you, again?” Kairi teased.

“What matters is that I'm young at heart,” Sora declared.

“ _Very_ young,” Riku put in.

“Like a toddler,” Kairi agreed.

Shrugging, Sora sipped from his milkshake, to the laughter of his friends. Namine sat back and sipped her tea, comfortably quiet as her friends picked up the conversation and enjoyed their drinks.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Marluxia's parties were always better than anyone else's, and he held them so frequently that there just wasn't a point in anyone else throwing one. He'd started hosting them when he was still in high school, back in his parents' ritzy mansion. Now he threw them in his upscale apartment, instead.

Upon finding out that Demyx was going, Axel had decided to tag along with him instead of waiting around for Riku. The two of them had arrived early on and started drinking right off the bat, Demyx having nabbed a spot on the couch to stretch out on that he refused to leave. He was trying to coax someone into grabbing him snacks to avoid even having to sit up.

Predictably, where Demyx went, his shadow followed. Zexion had zero interest in parties, but _great_ interest in Demyx, and was sulking on the other side of the room with his gaze fixed on him. Nursing a beer, Riku decided to give him some company for the time being. They were frequent study partners during classes, and while they could never be considered 'friends', they tolerated each other well enough.

“He can be so blind,” Zexion muttered bitterly.

“Maybe that's part of the 'opposites attract' theory,” Riku replied. Demyx had caught Axel's sleeve and was grinning at him, entreating him for food... and more alcohol.

Zexion sighed. “I've made overtures of my feelings, and he's still oblivious. How?”

Worth noting was that, as far as Riku knew, said 'overtures' only went as far as being in the same place as Demyx at the same time. He wasn't sure if Zexion had ever introduced himself, let alone share more than a word or two with him. Carefully, Riku said, “Maybe you have to be more obvious.”

“I'm not prepared to be 'obvious' the way you are,” Zexion retorted.

“I'm electing to ignore that.”

By the door, Sora, Kairi, and Namine looked around curiously. Kairi hadn't exactly agreed to coming with Sora as a _date_ -date, and she'd insisted on dragging Namine along under the guise of 'not wanting to leave her alone doing nothing all night'. Namine kept a step or two behind them, not generally one for large social events but having a feeling that Kairi wanted a buffer to keep Sora from assuming things would go in a romantic direction.

“Oh – Riku.” Namine pointed him out, and Sora lit up.

“Oh, yeah. Hey, Riku!” Sora waved over at him.

Zexion took a dignified sip of water and got up to slink away. “I see you'll be busy now,” he commented, and went to seek out another good Demyx-watching spot.

Riku didn't bother to say goodbye, just going to greet his friends. “Glad to see you came,” he grinned, approaching them.

Over on the couch, Demyx stretched out and slumped comfortably, having worn Axel down enough to convince him to grab sustenance. Zexion observed, considering Riku's advice about being 'obvious'.

Then he realized he was considering _Riku's_ advice and wondered how much lower he had to sink.

Kairi smiled. “You can't get rid of us, after leaving us for the big city for a year.”

“Then I suppose I should get used to having you around again,” Riku said. “I should introduce you to some people...”

“Totally.” Sora automatically went for a hug, but stopped himself.

Riku gave him an odd look when he stopped. Sora was a hugger, but he hadn't initiated one since their first meeting on campus. This was the first indication that he was still inclined to latch to his friends like a determined leech. “... Something wrong?”

“Nope, nothing!” Sora laughed nervously.

Riku started to smirk. “You know, I was still gay when we'd hug and wrestle as kids.”

Kairi and Namine shared a look. Failing to hide feeling caught, Sora went slightly red. “... You were?”

“I've always been gay. Hugging me now doesn't make a difference.” Riku couldn't help sounding a bit condescending, amused. Namine smiled sympathetically.

Sora started to grin again, though his mind was still reeling. At least that put to rest any worries he had when he saw him holding hands with Kairi earlier. “Yeah! Okay,” Sora said, and drew him into a hug.

Unable to help herself, Kairi buried her face in her palm. Riku hugged Sora tightly, which was about as casual as he could muster. Still, Sora pulled away a bit too quickly.

Riku inwardly sighed. “Do any of you drink?”

“Yeah, sure!” Sora declared.

“Sometimes,” Kairi said quickly.

“Want me to grab you anything?” Riku offered.

Namine shook her head. “I'm alright, thank you.”

“I'd take just a cooler or something,” Kairi said.

“What're you having, Riku?” Sora investigated the bottle in his hand.

“Just a beer.”

“Let me try it?” Sora requested.

Riku laughed, starting to turn away. “Sure, but you won't like it.”

Sora stopped him. “No, let me try _yours_ , dummy.” He seemed to have forgotten to have a problem with this exact sort of thing, so used to stealing Riku's food and drink.

“You sure?” Regardless, Riku offered it to him.

Kairi balked on Sora's behalf. “Uh -”

Sora took a huge sip, and the grimace that followed contorted his entire face. It was a mark of their friendship that Riku did not laugh.

“Told you.”

“You're gross, dude,” Sora wrinkled his nose.

“It's an acquired taste,” he snickered. “Want a cooler?”

“Yeah.” Sora was still making a production of licking his palate again and again liike a dog eating peanut butter.

Over at the door, Roxas double-checked the door unnecessarily before heading inside. He was on his own, a checkered flannel thrown on over a t-shirt and jeans, a case of beer under his arm for himself.

Axel had grabbed a drink for himself first and foremost, downing it before bringing Demyx a bad of chips and a beer. He joined him on the couch, right in time for Roxas to set his case down next to it and wrestle one out of the cardboard net.

He appraised the couch for somewhere to sit. Axel barely had space himself, Demyx sprawled out almost on top of him. Neither of them appeared to notice Roxas, Axel sipping his drink and watching some people argue over music while Demyx ripped open his chip bag.

Roxas raised an eyebrow at Demyx. “You mind?”

“Nope,” he replied, oblivious, and glanced up at Roxas.

“That means 'move', Dem,” Axel spoke up, still watching Larxene and Marluxia snipe at each other.

“Do I have to? I just got comfortable,” Demyx groused.

“Unless you want me to sit on you,” Roxas said, impatient. Contrary to the reaction he expected, Demyx grinned.

“I'd be okay with that.”

This was par for the course with Demyx. Axel paid no attention, idly swigging the drink he brought back. It'd been intended for Demyx, but frankly, he'd been too slow in getting to it.

Roxas raised an eyebrow with a slight grin. “Bold. I kind of like it.”

“Only kind of? But I'm hot,” Demyx protested, though he wasn't really affronted.

Vaguely, Roxas was reminded of his banter with Axel. “... Maybe I just need to see more.”

Demyx grinned. “If you wanna!”

Unable to help himself, Roxas glanced at Axel for a reaction. There was none; he wasn't even listening, leaning over the couch arm to snark at Larxene.

Fine. That was fine. Roxas shrugged it off.

He _told_ himself he'd shrugged it off.

“We could see if Marly's bedroom is free,” Demyx suggested. “Or the bathroom. Whatever!”

Roxas blinked, stunned. “Uh. Oh. So, right now.”

“Or, you know, later,” Demyx shrugged. “If you wanna come home with me.”

With a soft sigh, Roxas looked around the party. There were a lot of people he didn't know, some he did, and one person he'd kind of thought would have taken his presence as an invitation to hit on him like they'd never met before.

“Nah, let's go.”

“Here, or home? My place has better music,” Demyx said.

“Is it far to your place?”

“Nah! C'mon, let's go.” Demyx hauled himself up, crumpling his chip bag. Roxas ditched his beer case on the coffee table, and infuriatingly, that was the first notice of him Axel took. He stole a beer, which was promptly 'accepted' out of Axel's hand by Larxene.

“Bye everybody, I'm gone,” Demyx announced. Several feet away, Zexion's eyes narrowed.

Roxas shoved his hands in his pockets and followed, not looking back. He was still kind of taken aback that he'd managed to hook up with someone in a matter of minutes without that being his intention.

On his way back to his friends with a couple of coolers, Riku shot Zexion a sympathetic shrug. With a scowl, Zexion looked down at his phone and scrolled through his contacts, putting it to his ear as he left the party as well.

The person on the other end picked up after an annoyingly long time. “ _Zexion._ ”

“I'm coming to the lab,” Zexion informed him coldly. “I'll be ten minutes.”

Having been reviewing lessons plans, Vexen all but swept the papers to one side, far more interested in the promise of what Zexion's frustration meant for him. “Very well,” he replied, but he was speaking to no one. Zexion had stayed on the line for as long as it took to tell Vexen he was on his way.

No matter. Vexen didn't care for manners one way or another. He set down his phone and began clearing everything off his desk.

Zexion strode over to his parked car and huffed like an angry bull, sliding into the driver's seat and taking a second to reflect on the poor circumstances he found himself in. Becoming hopelessly infatuated with Demyx was not something he'd accounted for, when he'd started his first year of college ahead of everyone his age. He was on his third year now, and was no closer to wooing his beloved than he ever was.

Their meeting had been a coincidence. Zexion, obsessed with being fifteen minutes for every class at minimum, had been running a full half hour ahead of schedule. Demyx had been running so late that he'd decided there was just no point in going to class at all. They'd both been in line at the campus coffee shop.

Zexion had had enough money for a small black tea, and nothing else. While he counted out change, Demyx had reached over his shoulder and dropped the correct amount on the counter in front of the cashier. Maybe he'd just been impatient and wanted Zexion out of his way, but he hadn't shown it; Zexion had turned, ready to deny his apparent charity, when Demyx disarmed him with a grin.

Then he'd ordered their largest frappucino for himself and hummed while the two of them waited for their drinks. It wasn't a song Zexion had recognized, but it was pleasant. Demyx took the drinks when they were ready, pressed the tea into Zexion's hand, and took off.

After that, Zexion had found himself thinking about him once in a while. Then, every so often. Then, almost constantly. Demyx seemed to be everywhere, and if he wasn't around, Zexion found reasons to be where he was anyway.

He dispensed with pretense early on. It was a distressing state of affairs, to have fallen in love with an idiot. Demyx was the last person he ever would have thought he'd be captivated by; he was lazy, he was selfish, and he had very few social graces.

Really... he was a lot like Zexion. Those traits just manifested very differently.

The image of Demyx walking out of the party with Roxas kept replaying as he drove back to HBU, taking a memorized route to the science wing. He found a parking space and swept away from the car, steps quick but heavy all the way to the chemistry lab.

He rapped his knuckles on the door before entering. As expected, Vexen was there, waiting for him.

“Right on time,” Vexen noted, glancing from the clock to Zexion and taking in his expression. “Displeased?”

“I have no interest in speaking about it.” Zexion shut the door and locked it.

“Ah. I see.” Irritating – Vexen knew it had to be about Demyx, but he wouldn't have wanted to pursue the subject even if Zexion had been willing to.

“There is little more to say at this point.” Zexion began unbuttoning his shirt, efficiently undressing. He was never warm or intimate during their encounters, and why should he be?

Before he'd ever run into Demyx, Zexion had been aware of his professor's lustings. He only started making use of them once his interest in Demyx turned sexual, because Vexen was a much better outlet than his hand.

Zexion draped his clothing over a chair and pulled himself up onto the table, Vexen's lab coat joining his shirt and slacks. Approaching, Vexen placed a hand on either side of Zexion, swooping forward to jealously claim his mouth.

Returning the contact without any real passion, Zexion parted his lips and curled the tip of his tongue against Vexen's. His lust was fueled solely by irritation, and he didn't really care what Vexen thought of it or got out of this. He just needed to vent.

Running his hands idly along Zexion's legs, Vexen encouraged them to part. He got the sense that Zexion wanted to move things faster already, but he drew out his creeping touches for his own sake. In case he ever planned on getting on with things, Zexion thought he should undo Vexen's pants and deftly worked them open.

Vexen broke away, fingertips walking up his thighs. “Not very much patience, I see...”

“Not right now, no,” Zexion almost growled.

“Very well...” Vexen trailed lips and teeth down his neck, longing to leave marks. Zexion tilted his head, lifting his hips to allow Vexen to remove his briefs and leaning back on his hands.

“Nngh...” Briefly, his eyes closed. Vexen's hands were always cold, but they warmed as he massaged Zexion's hips and traced patterns towards his hardening cock. Apart than Vexen, he didn't have any past partners to compare to, but he still wondered what Demyx would do differently.

He wouldn't draw things out, he didn't think. Demyx would be all about instant gratification, and what was the point in prolonging things, anyway?

Vexen's mouth descended, but he wrapped his hand around Zexion's cock before his lips reached that point, straightening up as he stroked him. Zexion arched with a quiet sound of frustration, visible eye narrow. Vexen ran his hand over the silken skin, mouthing over his chest just to feel like he was claiming him. Blind to his intent and indifferent, Zexion ran a hand over his shoulder and into his hair.

As long as he kept touching.

When he took too long to uncap the thin bottle of lube, though, Zexion's grip tightened painfully. He started to move with his hand impatiently, and Vexen's hiss satisfied him on a petty level.

“Soon,” Vexen promised, in the process of coating his fingers. Mollified, Zexion unwound his fingers from his hair and draped himself back on the desk.

About time.

Zexion steadied his breathing, watching Vexen work. Slick fingers circled his entrance, his other hand drifting off Zexion's erection to grasp his hip. Vexen hungrily observed as he took a single digit, relaxing around it and allowing Vexen to stretch him in practiced strokes. He was methodical, pressing against his prostate lightly at every opportunity.

He knew every angle, every motion that Zexion seemed to like. His eyes closing, Zexion's breathing became uneven, hitching at all the right moments. He never made too much noise, and that was all the better; Vexen liked the challenge of it, the intense observation. They were both so controlled even in a situation that called for the loss of it.

With a soft almost-moan, Zexion rocked his hips a little to encourage more from Vexen, who pressed a second finger in alongside the first. That was good, but it still wasn't enough.

He hated that he could still _think_. He could still wonder what Demyx was doing at that very moment, and could still answer his own stupid question. Zexion grit his teeth in annoyance, a third finger working inside too gradually. He sat up on his elbows and jut his chin, flicking his hair aside.

“You could take it already, couldn't you?” Vexen murmured, rotating three fingers once they were buried deep.

Zexion inhaled sharply. “You're not usually one to ask for answers you already know.”

“Mm.” Twisting them once more, Vexen slipped his fingers out and pulled Zexion's hips forward. Catching his breath, Zexion shot him a look, unimpressed by the manhandling and impatient. Vexen slicked himself, dismissing the brief notion of getting Zexion to do that for him, and took far too long to press forward into him.

At least he got to it eventually, though Zexion was plagued with visions of Demyx with some blonde bimbo in the meantime.

Groan low and drawn, Zexion wrapped his legs around Vexen as he sank inside, marvellous pressure overtaking some of his irritation. At least Vexen was good for _some_ thing.

“Ngh...” Pleased, Vexen bucked forward to the hilt and repositioned one of Zexion's legs a bit higher.

It was tempting to roll his eyes, but Zexion let Vexen move him without complaint. He could let his mind wander at last, focus on the subtle, satisfying ache and fleeting peaks of pleasure. Vexen stroked him in tandem with his thrusts, making him shiver.

There was really only one way to improve this...

Zexion reached up and pulled Vexen down towards his chest, allowing him to see over Vexen's shoulder instead. That was better. He closed his eyes briefly, let himself imagine, and everything felt suddenly so much better. Every catch of his breath was louder, every moan, and Vexen wasn't oblivious – he was never oblivious – but he didn't care, because he _owned_ Zexion in this moment.

Well. He cared a little. That's why he moved faster, a little more careless. The roughness didn't align with Zexion's fantasy, but Vexen wanted to keep him present, remind him who he was with.

With a furtive scowl, Zexion bucked into his hand demandingly, letting his head fall to Vexen's shoulder.

“Ah...” He was panting, pleasure mounting to the point that even fantasies became blurs. Showing the most consideration he was capable of, Vexen clenched his teeth and held back his orgasm, dissuaded from coming inside of him and wanting to get Zexion off first.

He was on the very brink of breaking when Zexion tightened up and spasmed, curling around Vexen and spilling into his hand. Vexen barely pulled out in time, spattering his stomach with a needy hiss.

Things cooled off quickly, afterglow never lingering. Evening out his breath, Zexion cleaned himself up and slid down from the desk, starting to gather his clothing without so much as a glance Vexen's way.

“I suppose you'll be leaving, as usual,” Vexen said, forcing himself to be nonchalant. He was still in the process of tidying up the evidence.

Zexion raised an eyebrow. “Unless there is some work which urgently requires my attention, I have no cause to stay.”

How irritating. “Very well.”

“Until Monday, then.” Zexion fixed his hair and double-checked his shirt buttons on his way to the door.

“Yes, yes, Monday.” Clipped, Vexen finished sanitizing his desk and began to redress himself, left to it by the loud click of the door shutting in Zexion's wake.

He felt a little less heavy, but Zexion's mood was no lighter. He returned to his car and sat in the driver's seat for several minutes before bothering to drive home.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was a decent party. Not like, phenomenal, but decent.

Axel wandered up to his apartment, assuming his roommate probably went home with someone, as would be par for the course. He had headphones in, keys in hand, and no idea that he was in for a surprise.

Biting down on Roxas's throat to stifle a loud moan, Demyx bucked forward against him, on their third condom and the living room couch. The last round had been softer recovery sex, and Demyx was in the mood for the hard stuff again, as evident by his nails pressing into Roxas’s back and his low imploration.

“Give it to me hard.”

That was the first thing Axel heard upon unlocking the door, having taken out his headphones right outside. He whistled. “That's unexpected.”

About to oblige, Roxas faltered in surprise and made a noise like a startled cat.

He had kind of assumed that if Demyx had a roommate, he would've come home earlier... but of course. _Of fucking course_ it was Axel. Because that's just what his life was.

“Shit,” he mumbled, closing his eyes and pleading with any and every higher power to make this not happen.

“... Really should've taken it to your room,” Axel recommended. “Or, sock on the door would've been nice.”

Flushed, Demyx blinked at him, forgetting how to use his words. That meant it was up to Roxas, who tried to pass this off with as much dignity as possible.

“Rest of the party good?”

“Decent,” Axel answered, locking the door with a shrug. He'd kind of forgotten Roxas had even been there. “I'll go put on music.”

“Yeah, okay,” Demyx said sheepishly.

Swallowing, Roxas hoped his blush could be attributed to the fact that he was still on top of Demyx. “See you...”

Axel took off his boots in record time and went off to his room. What a vaguely surreal situation.

“I don't want to keep going until he's got music on,” Demyx whispered. “We, uh, have a rule. Kind of broke it.”

Roxas rolled his eyes. “You didn't think he'd be _coming home_ at any point?”

“Thought he might go home with Riku.”

“With Riku?” Something in Roxas's gut twisted. So all that flirting had been serious, then?

“Sometimes, yeah. Um, do you want to keep going?”

Axel had started up a playlist that they could hear through the door. At least he'd chosen sufficiently sexy music to avoid killing the mood for them. Roxas tried not to look over back after him.

Why the hell not. If Axel didn't care... Then, Roxas didn't care.

“... Yeah.”


	3. It's Getting Hot In Here

“You could hang out on your own.”

Riku wasn't sure _why_ he was being tailed. Surely Axel and Demyx had better things to do than hang out at Sora's place.

Cluelessly, Demyx continued to walk behind Riku. “What, like a date?”

“You never let me meet new people,” Axel talked over Demyx. “Are you ashamed of me?”

“ _Yes_.” Riku double-checked the apartment number on his phone, standing right by it but wanting to be sure. “I'm kind of trying to get some time with Sora on our own. Without you guys. We need to catch up.”

“So _you_ were on a date?” Demyx, incorrectly, surmised.

“Well, it's not a date now.” Axel leaned over Riku's shoulder to knock on the door.

“It was never a date,” Riku said. “Need I remind you, Sora's straight.”

Axel snorted. “Sure.”

“I could check for you, if you want to be _really_ sure he's straight.” Demyx shoved his hands in his pockets. In his experience, lots of guys thought they were straight before jumping into bed with him. He liked to think of himself as a guide in their journey of self-discovery. When Riku gave him a flat look, he shrugged. “What? I want to help.”

Inside, Roxas was regretting coming over. Sora had invited everyone he could, fretting over being alone with Riku... or alone with Kairi... or alone with them both.

He was showing no signs of those fears at the moment, cheerfully putting snacks out on every available surface, including his cousin's lap. Kairi sat on the floor, flicking through a binder of Sora's DVD's.

“So the plan is to just watch movies or something, I guess?” she asked.

“Yeah... or we could just talk or play a game or something.” Sora bolted upright with a renewed spark of panic, at the sound of a knock. “That's him.”

Roxas gave him a second before rolling his eyes. “If you don't get the door, he's going to wonder what's wrong.”

“... Oh, yeah!”

“I'll do it,” Roxas sighed and put the bowl of pretzels on his lap aside. He opened the door, and found himself staring in blank surprise at an equally thrown Axel.

Riku frowned. “Is Sora here?”

Blinking, Roxas started to move aside. He wished Axel wasn't draped on Riku like that. “Uh, yeah.”

Sora was standing a few feet behind Roxas, floundering. Riku relaxed when he saw him, though was a little irked to realize they weren't going to be on their own regardless of whether or not Axel and Demyx had come with him.

“Hey.”

Axel steered Riku inside. “I notice you don't have valet. You should really consider the investment, does wonders to make a guy feel welcome.”

Demyx flashed Roxas a quick grin that he didn't return.

“Hi! Sorry about inviting so many people over, but I guess you kinda did, too,” Sora laughed.

Kairi got up and bounded over to give Riku a hug. Wrapping one arm around her, Riku said, “I didn't invite them. They followed me.”

“Sweet, snacks.” Axel crashed onto the couch, and Demyx went to sprawl on the other side of it.

Shrugging, Sora remembered himself as Riku and Kairi parted, going to give him a hug as well. “That's okay! It's like a mini-party now. Oh – but I don't have drinks or anything.”

“It's better that you don't give us all alcohol in a closed space, anyway,” Roxas said.

“Too bad,” Demyx lamented. “I want a drink.”

“Keeping everyone sober is a good idea. Especially you,” Riku said. Axel started passively fighting with Demyx for couch space, stretching his legs out to drape on him.

“Guess the couch is taken. But you can hang out with me and Kairi on the floor!” Sora declared.

“Sure. Even though there's room for at least one more,” Riku noted pointedly, and was ignored.

Roxas pressed his back against the couch. “So what are we even doing?”

Going to sit between Riku and Kairi, Sora gaze lingered on her for a moment like he was nervous to do so. “Um, this is as far as I planned. What does everyone want to do?”

“I stand by my movie idea!” Kairi piped up, politely pretending not to notice Sora's glances.

“If we put on a movie, Demyx and I might wind up _holding hands_. He's needy,” Axel said, toneless. Demyx shoved him hard enough to almost pitch him over, and Roxas snickered.

“Movie's good,” Riku interpreted.

Laughing like he wasn't sure if they were joking or not, Sora asked, “Is anything I pick okay?”

“It's going to be Disney,” Riku warned.

“Shit, I haven't watched a kid's movie in ages,” Axel commented. “I'm up for it.”

Demyx frowned. “Disney's not kid's movies, they're timeless.”

“ _Maybe_ it won't be.” Sora flipped through his DVDs. “But then... I haven't seen The Little Mermaid in forever...”

“We watched The Little Mermaid at Christmas last year,” Roxas reminded him. Riku's lips twitched.

“Yeah, so forever.” Sora took the disc out of the sleeve and turned on his oversized television. Honestly fond of this movie, Kairi hoped the choice wasn't supposed to be some kind of gesture and turned her phone over in her hand.

She wanted to text Namine, especially since this had turned into a gathering.

Axel leaned forward to grab a bowl of popcorn. “I swear to god, if Demyx sings along to every song...”

“Not my fault! You know I love this movie,” Demyx protested.

Sora laughed, settling into a comfortable position as the menu screen popped up. “I'm glad it's not just me.”

Axel opened a bag of chips and dumped it over the popcorn. Only half the room was really invested in Ariel's fascination with the human world, which meant some of them were more attentive to the gentle knock on Sora's door within the first five minutes.

Blinking, Sora started to get up. “Did you guys invite someone else?”

“Wasn't me,” Roxas said.

“I didn't invite anyone to begin with,” Riku said.

Axel crunched his chip-and-popcorn mix. “I just love you too much for us to be apart. And Demyx... I don't know, he's like a leech.”

Perplexed, Sora leaped up and opened the door. “Namine!”

Kairi perked up, mouth half-full of pretzels.

“Hi...” Carrying a bag with her sketchbook and utensils in it, Namine smiled. “I hope I'm not bothering you. I thought I'd stop by before I go for coffee.”

“Of course you're not bothering us! Come in, we're watching movies,” Sora beamed.

“Oh – we?” Namine peeked past, doing a headcount. “Oh!”

“Hey,” Axel drawled, almost incomprehensible through a full mouth.

“Hi, Namine!” Kairi grinned.

“The couch is kind of taken, but...” Sora took his seat on the floor again.

“That's alright, I don't mind the floor.” Namine set down her bag and knelt down by Kairi.

“We're watching the enthralling adventures of a teenage aqua-girl,” Axel said, popping another chip in his mouth. Sora pouted when he realized he hadn't paused the movie, considering going back a scene.

Bored, Roxas reached over to grab at Axel's chips and was disappointed when he simply let him take them. He briefly entertained inviting Demyx to make out, doubting he'd even question it.

Axel was sucking flavouring off his fingers, which Roxas did not have the luxury of ignoring.

Gingerly, Kairi rested a hand over Namine's and leaned closer to her, making sure the others were distracted before whispering, “How'd you know?”

Giggling quietly, Namine whispered back. “I just had a feeling. I really _was_ intending on going for coffee when I left my dorm, though.”

“Your 'feelings' are surprisingly accurate.” Kairi tried not to linger on how close Namine was letting her get without _knowing_. “I'm glad you came over.”

“I am, too.” Namine surveyed everyone in the room, already picking up on who was stealing glances at whom.

Partway through Ariel incorrectly listing off the name of her hoarded possessions, Axel licked his lips and asked, “Alright, so no alcohol – what've you got to drink?”

Sora took a second to realize he was being spoken to. “Huh? Oh, um, I've got pop and chocolate milk.”

“Fizzy is good.” Axel hauled himself off the couch. “I've got it, no one get up.”

Roxas watched him go, then quickly stole his spot. He draped his legs over Demyx's lap, not even pretending to be casual or feigning interest in the movie.

Demyx was, unfortunately, too interested in the movie to respond in any interesting way. When Axel came back, he didn't even fight for his spot back, either, just taking a spot on the floor instead.

Roxas bit down on the inside of his cheek. Being ignored was _really_ getting to him – he'd thought that maybe Axel would warm up after the initial surprise of seeing him, or at least start acknowledging his existence. Instead, it was like he was a total stranger.

Namine quietly observed. She wanted to have a word with Roxas at some point... Maybe sooner than later, as he got up to leave the room with a sigh and no explanation.

No one really responded, assuming that Roxas needed to go to the bathroom or get something to drink. Excusing herself softly, Namine got up to follow him around the corner to the front door.

“Roxas...”

“Hm?” Pausing in the middle of pulling on his shoes, Roxas looked up and gave Namine a vaguely wary look. He knew _of_ her, but hadn't ever really held a conversation with her before.

“I think if you're leaving, you should let Sora know... He'll think something's wrong, if you don't,” she said.

“Could you let him know for me? Didn't want to cause a scene.”

“Sure.” Making an attempt to sound as though she hadn't been analyzing every move of the people around her, Namine ventured, “You seemed frustrated though, so... _is_ something wrong?”

“Mn.” Roxas shrugged evasively. “Just don't care about Disney movies. Sora only wanted me here as a buffer anyway, and he's got that and then some.”

“I don't think it was about the movie.”

Roxas wanted to be annoyed with her. He kind of was, just because she was right. “... Does it matter what it was about?”

“To you, doesn't it?”

“Not really,” he denied.

“Okay. But, if you do want to talk about it...” Namine bit her lip, then shrugged. “I'll tell Sora you left.”

Roxas appraised her. “... According to Sora, you know what everyone's thinking all the time.”

She smiled. “You know how Sora is. He exaggerates.”

“So, give me your analysis,” he challenged. “Can't be much more pathetic than the truth.”

Namine paused, deciding to start cautiously. “Well, I think you have some history with Axel, and something about what he's doing now is bothering you.”

As though that was hard to guess. Roxas sighed. “Axel and I have history, yeah. ... A lot of history, actually.”

“It's bothering you that he's ignoring you,” Namine nodded.

“Fine, yeah,” he scowled. “It bothers me.”

“Have you tried just... talking to him one-on-one? Even if he doesn't want to get back together, I'm sure he'd be open to being friends if he knew you wanted to be...”

“Doubt it. Doesn't matter if he wanted to get back together or not, anyway. I don't care.” Roxas was fifty percent sure he didn't care. “I just don't think I've warranted no acknowledgement at all.”

Namine frowned a little. “He seems just... distant. If you don't want to be friends, why does it bother you?”

He hesitated, then said in a smaller voice, “I just can't believe he’d want nothing to do with me.”

“How long have you two been broken up?”

“Since he left high school,” Roxas answered, and already resented the confusion on her face.

“Then it's been a little while.”

“I know that,” he replied, and it was hard to explain why he felt so exasperated. If she'd known Axel before, she'd understand why it was so... jarring. As it was, the only way he could explain was to say, “But he was always the intense one when we were together.”

“I'm guessing you were the one who did the dumping,” Namine surmised. “Did you not _want_ him to get over you?”

Groaning, Roxas slid a hand down his face. “I’m not that much of a jerk. It's not like I wanted him to be unhappy...”

“You just thought he'd be happier to see you?”

“Or at least treat me like I exist at all,” Roxas bemoaned. “Breaking up wasn't supposed to end all contact between us forever. I thought, him being so clingy, we'd at least stay in touch...”

“But you didn't try to get in touch with him either, did you?”

Roxas felt a lurch of discomfort. “... No.”

“I think if you want him to pay attention, you're going to have to start from scratch,” Namine suggested. “It's been years. I'm sure you're both different people, in some ways.”

“Don't think he'll let me,” Roxas sighed.

“You don't know until you try.”

“What do you even say to someone who's trying to pretend you're empty air?” he pointed out.

“I don't know,” Namine shrugged helplessly. “I don't know him well enough. I would probably just say hello and try to catch up on things.”

“Might be a little late for that,” Roxas muttered.

“There's probably something you could say to him. Just think about it?”

“Sure.” Despite himself, Roxas gave Namine a grudging smile. As frustrating as it was to talk about this, he couldn't help feeling like she was in his corner. “You could give him one of your magic pep talks, and then we'd be even.”

Namine smiled back. “I'll try that.”

“I'm still going, though. No point in staying now.”

“I'll fill in everyone who asks. See you later, Roxas.”

“Yeah, see you.” Roxas finished tying his shoe and got up. “... Thanks.”

Namine waved as he headed out the door and went back to the others. She sank back down next to Kairi, smoothing her skirt. She'd wait until the movie was over to tell Sora where Roxas went; he seemed quite intent on Ariel's plight.

At least until he decided he wanted a snack and unthinkingly leaned bodily over Riku to grab a bag of chips. He didn't falter until he'd already done it, and avoided Riku's eyes as he sat back up stiffly.

Riku tried not to bury his face against his palm. He _really_ needed to talk to Sora about this soon.

Keeping a slight but safe distance between them for the rest of the movie, Sora snacked until the credits rolled.

“Great movie,” Demyx sighed contently.

“You especially like the part with the water and the singing?” Axel asked.

Oblivious to sarcasm, Demyx grinned. “Yeah!”

“Sora?” Namine spoke up. “Roxas remembered some work he had to do, so he asked me to tell you that he left.”

Arms stretched above his head, Sora blinked. He didn't think to doubt the excuse though. “Oh... okay. Thanks.”

Axel hadn't noticed Roxas leave, but arched an eyebrow over it now. “What courses heap on the workload this early...”

“Now what?” Riku asked. He was kind of hoping the others would leave on their own accord.

“Hm... Movies are good, but no one even talked to each other that whole time,” Sora said.

“You would have complained we were talking over the best part if we did,” Kairi pointed out with a smile.

Sora's cheeks coloured. “Okay, what do _you_ want to do?”

“It'd be a good idea to do something we could all participate in,” Riku said, in spite of the desire to steer most of his friends out of the apartment.

“Like an orgy?” Demyx asked.

Especially Demyx. Riku would've _loved_ for Demyx to leave.

“No,” Riku choked.

“Damn.”

Sora's face had gone fire-engine red. “How about a game instead?”

“A sexy game?”

“ _No,_ Demyx,” Riku glared at him.

Sora started to look around, crawling towards one of his shelves. “Uh, I don't know what I have for this many players...”

“I don't mind sitting out,” Namine volunteered. “I'm happy to watch.”

“Axel can't play unless he relinquishes any lighters he has,” Riku said.

Axel frowned. “That's discrimination.”

“Okay, what about a card game? Everyone can play that, right?” Sora grabbed a deck. Kairi had bought it for him years ago, and it was rather battered as a result. Every card was Disney-themed.

“Poker?” Axel suggested.

Demyx jumped on that. “ _Strip_ poker?”

“What? But,” Sora stammered. “Th-there are girls here.”

Namine covered her giggles with her hand.

Looking to Kairi, Axel grinned and asked, “Would you be _terribly_ offended by strip poker?”

“Not really, we're all adults here.” Given the company, Kairi didn't feel she was in much danger of being ogled. The only straight guy present was Sora, and he was... Sora. “I'll do it if Namine does it.”

Wait. Wait, _shit_. She regretted saying that the moment it came out of her mouth. What kind of manipulative pervert _was_ she?

Sora was making a whining sound in the back of his throat. Namine couldn't help but laugh, now.

“Sure. Why not?” Namine had gone a bit pink, but seemed too amused to bow out. “Like Kairi said, we're all adults.”

Well, Kairi couldn't back out now without it seeming strange. Her face went hot.

“Um... okay.” Sora set the cards down on a bare patch of floor. “Just one thing.”

“Which thing? Are you backing out?” Smirking, Axel nudged Riku with his foot. “You're playing, right?”

“Might as well _now_.” There was no way Riku was going to be the odd one out.

“It's not that, it's just...” Sora hesitated. “How do you play poker?”

Axel looked like someone had just announced that Christmas had come early. Riku smacked his leg.

“You can sit out the first few rounds,” he told Sora, because _someone_ had to defend his virtue.

“Okay, I'll do that,” Sora agreed. “It's probably a good thing Roxas left, he would hate this.”

Axel considered refuting that, but decided against it. He moved down from the couch to the floor. “I don't think it's _entirely_ fair that you sit out and don't lose anything. At least take off a sock, or something.”

Riku shot Axel a warning look. Sora just laughed nervously.

“You _can_ say no,” Riku muttered to Sora.

“It's okay. At least this way everyone's interested.” Sora didn't fully realize the implications of what he'd just said, or why Riku went totally blank-faced in response.

“Alright,” Axel took the deck and started shuffling. “Aces are high and two socks count as one item.”

Kairi giggled, taking a seat to encourage more of a circle formation. “Ouch. You play to win. What about jewellery?”

“Legal, but the record will forever show that you copped out.” Axel began to deal. “Cheating will be penalized by having to strip naked and sit out of the game.”

“That's fair,” Kairi agreed, scooping up her cards. Namine took up her own hand, expression perfectly composed.

Without even yet looking at his cards, Demyx asked, “Am I allowed to fold?”

Axel rolled his eyes. “Luxord makes up that rule to get you, specifically, naked. Yeah, you can fold.”

Sora leaned over Kairi's shoulder to look at her cards, trying to figure out how this worked. It was a decent hand, and she was able to keep her composure as a result. Demyx was pouting obviously as he arranged and rearranged his cards, and Riku had already separated three cards to put them down.

“Two for me,” Kairi decided, and replaced the three of clubs and jack of diamonds in her hand.

“What does that mean?” Sora asked.

“Explanations after,” Axel said. Namine put down a single card, which he replaced for her before prompting Demyx. “C'mon, Dem.”

“Um...” Demyx chewed his lower lip.

“Do you need some help?” Kairi offered.

“No... Just, uh...” Demyx dithered, then sighed and put down four cards.

Having gone around the circle, Axel replaced two of his own cards and declared, “Ante up. Who's folding?”

Demyx drooped. “Me...”

Sora understood even less than before.

“Everyone else in?” Axel waited. “... 'Cause I'm folding. Go ahead.”

Riku put down a two-pair. Kairi's hand had only a single pair of tens, and Namine put down a three of a kind in eights.

With a sigh, Kairi dropped her bracelets on the table. She decided to start tame, for Sora's sake, and he was blatantly relieved.

“It's on the record now, Kairi, I warned you,” Axel said. Namine covered another smile, and it was gone by the time there were new cards in front of her.

“I accept my record.” Kairi picked up her new hand. Better, this time around.

“So, um,” Sora began.

Bypassing Namine when she shook her head, Axel gave Riku two cards. “So, how it works is this. Everyone gets five cards. We go around once and you replace cards in your hand to get a better hand. You want to be the guy with the highest-ranked hand of everyone who chooses to play, that round. You following?”

“Uh-huh. So you can replace like, any bad cards?” Sora asked.

“Any. You're taking a chance, though. You might wind up getting rid of a card you could've used.” Axel grinned. “Hands go, from lowest to highest – high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind...then straight – any row of numbers, doesn't matter what the suit is... Flush, cards that are all the same suit... Full house, that's a two pair and a three of a kind... Four of a kind... And then a straight flush. All same suit, numbers in order.”

Sora nodded slowly, overwhelmed. “That sounds like a lot to remember. Will someone just tell me if I put down a good hand?”

“Yeah. 'Cept you're gonna have to learn to keep them in mind when you're playing.” Axel fanned out his cards. “Alright, ante.”

Nonchalantly, Namine folded her hand.

“That doesn't sound too hard,” Sora decided.

As Demyx contemplated his options, Kairi said, “You better pick before I put my cards down.”

“Give him time,” Riku smirked.

Made nervous, Demyx put his cards down. “Uh... I guess I'll fold...”

“Axel? You in this time?” Kairi looked to him. Sora was surprised she was so confident and wondered how she could tell she had a better hand than the others.

“I'm in. We all ready, then?” Axel took a second and set down two sets of paired cards, while Kairi flashed a three of a kind in fives.

Riku swore under his breath.

“Another thing you can do in poker is try to convince everyone you've got a better hand than you do. Bluff. Intimidate the other players into folding, then you win by default, that sort of thing.” Axel snickered. “Didn't work for Riku.”

Shrugging off his button-up, leaving a plain t-shirt underneath, Riku pointed out, “Demyx dropped out.”

“Demyx is dumb,” Axel reminded him.

“Hey!”

“Oh, um, okay.” Sora understood. He was pretty sure.

“Think you're ready to play?” Axel asked, starting to deal Sora in.

“Sure, I think I get it.”

Cards were distributed, and Namine promptly set down her hand. “I fold this round, too.”

Axel raised an eyebrow. “You can swap some cards first... We're not even at that stage.”

Namine smiled serenely. “Oh, I know.”

Distinctly less confident in her hand this time, Kairi decided nonetheless not to switch out any cards but feigned a poorly-hidden smirk. She wanted to make it easier on Sora by making the others fold, or at least by folding, herself.

Meanwhile, Riku was now torn between competition, and not wanting to have Sora take off any clothing. After several seconds of waiting on him, Axel snapped his fingers in front of his face.

“Riku? Cards.”

“Uh-...” Riku gave over two random ones.

Sora threw in three cards, only to pout over the fact that he gave away one he could've made a pair with. He didn't want to fold on his first hand, but the look on Kairi's face made him nervous.

“Ante.”

Free to smile this round, Namine sat back and let herself be entertained.

“Okay,” Sora decided, biting his lip. Kairi and Demyx promptly folded their hands, leaving Axel, Riku, and Sora to compare cards.

Axel smirked over his pair of aces. Riku sighed and started on his belt, which was a relief to Sora – he thought he'd take off something more risque. Like pants.

Although, he guessed it wouldn't make sense to take the pants off and leave the belt _on_. How would he have even done that?

Man, if only Riku were wearing a dozen belts. Not that he was afraid to see Riku undressed, or anything. That'd be a dumb thing to be worried about.

Hoping to prompt some kind of conversation, Kairi asked, “So, how do the three of you know each other?”

Axel smirked at Riku, who covertly flipped him off. Demyx volunteered information first.

“I hooked up with both of them at a party, it was kind of a coincidence. Not at the same _time_ , I mean, but. Same party.”

Oh look, Sora's blush was back. He wanted a new hand of cards to bury his face in, while another part of him lurched with a cold feeling. Axel and Demyx had been way closer to Riku than he liked the idea of... But he didn't think it was a _homophobic_ thing. He sure hoped it wasn't.

Kairi's smile didn't waver. “You probably know Sora, Riku, and I have been friends since we were little kids.”

“We got the run-down. Riku used to get all _nostalgic_ and talk about you guys and beaches and all that.” A little pointedly, Axel went on, “Incidentally, not all of us met and immediately had sex. Riku and I met while he was at orientation and got lost. Ditched the rest and spent it hanging out in the cafeteria.”

Well, that mollified Sora a little. The fact that Riku talked about them, not just the sex thing. He beamed.

“I didn't expect to miss you guys so much, I guess,” Riku mused, avoiding looking at them. He felt guilty over Sora's blush.

“Riku never really seemed like the type for that, no,” Kairi laughed. “Anyway, Namine came along during high school and she's been our friend for a while, too.”

“So did you all decide to come here together, or is this coincidence?” Axel dealt out new cards.

“Both, kind of,” Sora said, quickly gathering his cards. He looked at Riku, and ended up catching his eye when Riku shot him a fond look.

“We knew Riku was going here when we were deciding on schools, so that was a factor,” Kairi elaborated. “Honestly, though, it just ended up being the best fit for me.”

“I was offered a scholarship, so it seemed like the most sensible option,” Namine smiled. “And I really like their art program.”

Sora grinned. “You know me, friends and family are the most important thing to me. None of the schools I was accepted to were really better than the others, and with all my best friends going here, and my cousin...”

“You definitely couldn't leave Roxas,” Riku agreed. “Don't think he'd willingly associate with anyone else.”

“Except Ven, maybe, and he's not very good at forcing him out of his cave,” Sora pondered.

“Is Ven still with-?”

“Terra? Yeah. I think those two are pretty much together for life.” Sora wasn't paying much attention to his cards, now. “I wonder if they really did share a paopu.”

Demyx threw in his entire hand to get new cards. “What's a paopu?”

“A fruit from the islands. There's an urban legend surrounding it,” Riku explained.

“A really romantic one,” Kairi added.

“Urban legend?” Sora prodded Riku's shoulder. “You believe in it, don't you?”

Riku was very aware of his cheeks heating up. “Well-... Yeah. I do. The legend says that if two people share one, their destinies are entwined forever.”

“I think it's sweet,” Namine said. Showing the most politeness he was capable of, Axel did not laugh.

Kairi hoped the brief expression of longing on her face wasn't as obvious as it felt. “Most people on the islands believe in it.”

“And it can be anyone,” Sora said. “Your friends, or someone you love...”

Riku snickered. “Remember when we fought over who'd share one with Kairi?”

Sora blushed. “Yeah. We had a lot of competitions over that.”

“Without ever consulting you,” Riku nodded to Kairi. “Sorry about that.”

“Ante,” Axel interjected.

“You were kids,” Kairi shrugged, using the conversation to cover her grin. “When it came down to it, I'd make the choice. Or no choice at all.”

Sora bit his lip, not sure how to feel about that.

“I'm... I'm in, I think,” Demyx balked. “Yeah.”

“Well, I'm in _now_ ,” Axel said flatly. “No matter what I have, it's probably better than Demyx's hand, with that spectacularly confident declaration.”

“I'm in,” Kairi agreed.

“Huh?” Sora scanned his cards. “Oh, yeah.”

“I'm in, too,” Namine nodded.

Axel threw down a flush, in hearts. “Let's see what you've all got.”

Riku set his cards down face-up, revealing a three of a kind. With a grin, Kairi set down a full house, while Sora put down five mismatched cards. He hadn't actually looked at his hand the entire time.

Then Namine placed down four aces, and Axel whistled low.

Demyx grinned, his one pair good enough to keep him from losing. Sora blinked, taking a moment to realize why everyone was now looking at him.

Well, everyone but Riku, who was doing his best _not_ to look at him.

“... Oh.” With a shrug, Sora whipped off his shirt, apparently unfamiliar with the idea of starting slow.

Axel whooped. “See, that's how it's done.”

Demyx gave Sora a once-over, but he was oblivious to it. Axel eyed Sora as well, but with different intentions; he was sizing up the competition, and when his gaze landed on Namine, he determined that she was by far the most dangerous player.

Her luck was uncanny... as was her poker face.

“We're gonna change this up a bit,” he declared. “From now on, only the winner doesn't have to strip. All losing hands ditch an article of clothing.”

“Aww,” Demyx groaned.

“You can't just change rules partway through the game,” Riku argued.

Axel shrugged. “Too late.”

Kairi had just been thinking that she was fortunate she probably wouldn't play the worst hand. “I suppose it'll make the game go quicker...”

Sora reddened, but said nothing.

“Let's go around the circle, starting with... Riku,” Axel nodded at him. Expression blank, Riku slid three cards forward.

They went around the circle, Namine folding her hands over her cards and Sora visibly brightening when his hand improved.

“You might just have the worst poker face ever,” Kairi noted with amusement.

Axel gestured towards Demyx, who was sulking again. “Think they're tied.”

“Shut up. Um... Three,” Demyx said, starting to hand them over. “No, wait-... Two.”

To Namine, Axel asked, “You folding?”

“Mm-hmm.”

She wasn't even _playing_ on hands she was choosing to fold, which was giving Axel the distinct impression that Namine was psychic. Unnerved, he said, “Everyone ante...”

“I'm folding, too,” Kairi decided.

“I'm in,” Riku decided, and Demyx nodded in agreement.

“Sora?”

“Sure, I'm in,” he declared, apparently confident.

Axel displayed a straight. “Alright, let's see 'em.”

Demyx swore. Sora, naturally, only had two pairs, and Riku set down a full house.

“Ouch.” Axel sighed and went for his shirt, not actually wearing very much to begin with. Demyx unzipped his jeans, instead, and Sora sat back to remove his socks.

“So, when _does_ the game end?” Namine inquired. “When someone has nothing left to take off?”

“Probably, yeah,” Axel replied, nonchalant.

“Um, maybe we shouldn't go down to completely naked,” Kairi balked.

“Alright. Underwear?” Axel amended.

“Sure. Sounds fair.”

Namine nudged her. “Where's your sense of adventure?”

Kairi's eyes went wide, reddening. “Easy for you to say, you're hardly playing!”

“I am playing. I just win the hands I play.”

“Fine, whatever you guys want,” Kairi pouted, still blushing. She would _not_ shake the idea that Namine was basically encouraging her to get naked for quite a while.

“It _would_ put you girls at a disadvantage, since we'd probably be counting bras as underwear,” Axel mused. “You'd lose a lot faster than we would.”

Kairi sighed. “I guess that's true. I'd hate to lose to a bunch of boys.”

Namine giggled, and Axel started dealing out the next round. Immediately knowing she was going to fold this round, Namine placed the cards face-down in front of her.

“Freaking psychic,” Axel mumbled, changing out two of his cards.

Sora's eyebrows raised. He was pretty sure this was a good hand – he wished he could ask someone. He swapped out a single card...

And the gamble didn't pay off. He pouted.

Riku smirked at the expression until he remembered he didn't _want_ Sora to lose. He wasn't prepared to handle a full-frontal from him.

“Well, I'm in,” Kairi decided.

“Yeah,” Sora agreed, having too much pride to fold. Demyx folded his hand with a sigh, but naturally Riku nodded to play this round as well.

“Alright, read 'em and strip,” Axel declared, putting down a flush in spades.

There were groans, and people's hands went to their clothing. Riku ditched his t-shirt as well, and Sora lost his pants, having forgotten he was wearing a necklace. Kairi just took off her socks.

Oh god. Kairi and Riku _both_ were showing skin. Sora kept his eyes steadfastly forward, too embarrassed to look at either of his friends.

As Namine assessed her new cards, Axel attempted to focus _really hard_ on mustering some mind-reading powers.

“Are you folding this hand, too?”

“No. One, please.” Namine slid one card forward, and immediately, everyone was intimidated.

“Uh, three,” Kairi squeaked.

“Can I just get all new cards?” Sora bit his lip.

They adjusted their new cards, assessed their odds, and sneaked furtive looks at Namine all the while.

“I'm gonna fold,” Sora decided.

Riku glanced at Namine. “I'm... folding this round, too...”

“Yeah, I'm out,” Axel agreed, unnerved.

Namine waited patiently, her expression blank save for a serene smile.

“Well, I'm playing, if none of you are,” Kairi said.

“Nuh-uh,” Demyx shook his head vigorously.

“Guess it's just the two of us,” Namine said.

Nervous, Kairi slowly set down a flush in diamonds. With a smile, Namine put down her hand...

Which were nothing but a mash-up of random cards.

“ _Fuck_ me, you were bluffing?!” Axel burst out.

Kairi collapsed in on herself. “Thank god,” she breathed. She'd built up more tension than she realized, and was relieved, right up until she realized Namine was only wearing a slip dress and tights.

Oh.

Oh god was this about to happen?

Namine reached up behind herself, and unabashedly, slipped her bra out of her sleeve.

Demyx was wide-eyed. “How did you _do_ that?”

“It's a girl secret,” she told him.

Kairi swallowed and smiled, relaxing again. “For sure.”

“I don't know if that's brilliant or a cop-out,” Axel remarked. “You're not even showing any more skin.”

“I didn't know you were so eager to look at naked women,” Riku tried to tease, still a bit thrown off by a mostly-naked Sora.

“I can appreciate blondes in any form.”

Completely missing social cues, Sora asked, “Is that why you started liking Roxas?”

Axel went momentarily quiet, as did Riku and Demyx. They exchanged significant looks.

“Among other reasons,” Axel said at last. “That's what got my attention, though. Yeah.”

Thankfully, Sora didn't seem to have anything else to say on that topic. He just nodded and surveyed his cards, determined not to lose or be tricked this time.

Namine bit her lip sympathetically, knowing Axel's mood had dipped even as he resumed grinning and dealing cards. That was when she noticed that Kairi had gone a little red, and she wondered if it had something to do with Roxas.

To everyone's surprise, Sora put down a four of a kind in jacks at the conclusion of the round. Demyx removed his shirt with a groan, dressed now only in boxers, socks, and wristbands. Axel began taking off his socks.

“At risk of being accused of ripping off Namine...” Kairi reached inside her own shirt to remove her bra. It was considerably more decorative than Namine's plain white one.

“I thought it was pretty clever,” Namine laughed.

“Hey. Off with your clothes,” Axel nudged Riku, who obligingly removed his socks as well.

“So, uh, what were we talking about again?” Kairi asked.

“I still want to know how girls do that,” Demyx said.

“Not like you're gonna be removing anyone's bra, Dem.”

“But it's just _weird_. It's like a magic trick,” he marveled. “Plus, that might not be true. You -”

Axel cut him off with a sharp warning look.

“I sense a story,” Kairi prompted. Riku smirked.

Heaving a sigh, Axel waved a hand as he shuffled. “Whatever, I'm not ashamed. My primary source of income comes from, uh, entertaining, at a bar. ...A drag bar.”

Immediately, Sora was thrown into a puzzling world he needed a great deal of concentration to parse through.

“Cool,” Kairi smiled, eyes back on her cards as they were given to her. “Do you mind if I come watch sometime?”

“Just don't expect free drinks,” Axel snickered. “We have a couple of good drag kings, too.”

Namine's gaze lifted. “It _would_ be fun to go. I've never been to a bar like that, before.”

“ _You_ go to bars?” Demyx looked incredulous.

“Not really.”

“You'll come with me, right?” Kairi asked, and hoped that didn't sound as much like a date to everyone else as it did to her.

“Of course,” Namine replied, and smiled. “I'd only really be comfortable going with a friend, anyway.”

Riku almost winced on Kairi's behalf.

“Me, too,” Kairi said with convincing cheer, determined to smile too.

“Alright, people, we're back in the game,” Axel announced. “Dem?”

“Two,” he said, sliding the cards forward with more confidence in his hand.

“Three,” Kairi piped up. Sora nodded despondently.

“Yeah, same...”

Doling out the cards, Axel gave Namine one and Riku two. Demyx was openly pleased with his hand, but Sora was feeling overconfident.

“I'm in,” Namine declared, Sora nodding in determined agreement.

“I'll play!” Demyx said, itching to put down his flush in diamonds.

“Foldin' this one,” Axel sighed, and indicated for everyone to show their hands. Demyx threw his down eagerly, making Sora, with his three of a kind, pout. Riku eyed Sora's cards, his two pair only marginally better.

“Aw!” Kairi lamented, having thought her straight could have taken the round if everyone else was bluffing.

Demyx's grin could've put the sun to shame, right up until Namine set her four of a kind on top of his cards.

“You've got to be - !” Demyx groaned.

Kairi's jaw dropped, then she started to laugh. Riku stood to remove his jeans, and with a sulky scowl, Demyx abandoned his wrist bands.

“I don't feel so bad about losing now,” Kairi teased, unzipping her skirt. She folded it neatly and folded her legs under herself.

Then everyone looked to Sora, and Riku went _very_ tense when he realized Sora was going for his boxers.

“Your necklace, Sora?” Namine gently reminded him.

“Huh?” Sora glanced down. “Oh, yeah!” Quickly, he unhooked the chain supporting the crown-shaped charm and set it on the floor. Riku could have fallen apart thanking her.

“Way to go, Namine, it would've been so much funnier if he'd realized _after_ ,” Axel complained.

“Don't listen to him. Thanks,” Sora grinned, but it faded when his eyes flickered to the side. He swallowed heavily, not sure how to feel about how undressed Kairi was. His gaze went no lower than her waist, and she was thankful he was either very chivalrous or very virginal.

Maybe both.

“Looks like someone will be losing this game soon,” Namine giggled.

“Weird, I'm used to Demyx being the one to lose,” Axel mused, shuffling the cards back into the deck.

“I don't _always_ lose,” Demyx protested.

“Well, most of us here are still plenty dressed, but things could still turn around,” Kairi said.

“And I'm wearing a lot fewer articles of clothing than the rest of you,” Namine noted thoughtfully. “If I slip up, I could wind up losing before anyone.”

Both Sora and Kairi went bright red.

“As if you'd ever get that careless,” Kairi sputtered over a laugh.

Namine took her new cards. “Well, there _is_ a lot at stake for losing, so you're probably right.”

“Don't think Riku could handle being exposed to girl-parts, so that's probably for the best,” Axel mocked. Riku hit his arm.

“They might even let you win.” Kairi didn't even see her cards, laugh taking on an edge of guilt. “Talk about playing to the wrong crowd.”

“Hey,” Sora defended himself, poorly.

“What? Namine's like your sister – your words,” she reminded him.

“Or the right one. I'm not really embarrassed, after all,” Namine said, sliding two cards forward. Everyone put forth cards, and Axel considered his own cards briefly before swapping out three.

“Don't anyone hold back just because you're nearly naked. Everyone ante,” Axel declared.

Despite his definite look of guilt at Axel's comment, Sora quickly put his one pair face-down. “I'm gonna fold.”

“I'll fold, this round.” Namine couldn't be shamed so easily, just smiling when Axel jokingly rolled his eyes.

“I will, too,” Demyx sighed, accidentally putting his useless cards down face-up, not that it mattered.

“I'm in,” Kairi decided.

Riku nodded, “I'm in, too.”

“I'm not,” Axel smirked.

“You hypocrite,” Riku shot at him.

“Just you and me.” Kairi gave Riku a challenging look, relieved that she only had to beat him.

He'd been aiming for a full house. Hoping she was bluffing, he set down a three of a kind.

With a shrug, she put down a full house of her own. “That was close, huh?”

With a sigh, Riku reached up and removed the small plugs from his earlobes. He really had nothing but boxers left, now. Axel whistled.

“Woo, hot. Very risqué,” he teased. Riku threw his socks at him, but he went on. “Hey, at least someone else is down to as much as Sora.”

“We have another contender for last place,” Kairi laughed.

Sora made a strangled murmuring noise.

“Are you alright, Sora?” Namine asked.

“Yeah, I'm alright,” he managed to laugh. “I'm just thinking I really can't lose!”

Not exactly gunning to lose in spite of himself, Riku muttered, “It's not a big deal. Everyone in this room's already seen me naked at some point in my life... Except Namine.”

The next round was dealt with a degree of anticipatory tension.

“I'm going to fold, this round,” Namine said, instead of taking new cards.

“Ante up then, guys,” Axel said.

“I have to fold again,” Sora pouted, sighing at his cards.

“Me too, actually,” Kairi agreed.

Riku stared at his cards with the horrible realization that this was the only opportunity he had. He glanced up.

“... I'm in.”

“I'll play,” Demyx said. Axel glanced at Riku, then put down his hand: a flush, in clubs. Demyx promply pouted over his three of a kind.

Everyone looked at Riku, Sora keeping his eyes determinedly fixed on his hands.

He set down a single pair.

“ _Well_ ,” Axel snickered.

Sora relaxed and tensed again in the same moment, leaping to his feet. “I should get more drinks!”

“Sure, I could use a refreshment with my show,” Axel crowed.

“You don't _actually_ expect me to strip,” Riku narrowed his eyes.

“The rules didn't magically change for you, no.”

Namine politely averted her eyes. Kairi wasn't unfamiliar with the sight of Riku's body (though, they were kids the last time they were naked in each other's presence, skinny dipping because it was a scorching day and they didn't have swimsuits handy) but she thought she could save him a little dignity by looking away, as well.

He'd just do it fast. Riku stood and removed the boxers.

“ _Nice_ ,” Demyx leaned forward to see better.

“I'm about to swoon,” Axel purred.

“Shut up.” Riku did a single turn just to let them get it out of their systems.

Sora tripped over himself in his haste to put down everything drinkable in his mini-fridge, looking everywhere but at Riku. Amazing how much blood could live in someone's cheeks at a time.

“I'm getting dressed now,” Riku said pointedly.

Demyx leered. “Too bad.”

Sora almost missed the glass as he tried to pour himself juice.

“I guess that means we can all put clothes on?” Axel said, also disappointed to have to rely on memory to recall the exact proportions of Riku's dick.

Namine picked up her bra. “Well then, I'll be right back.”

“I should do that too,” Kairi said, quickly putting her skirt back on. She was hesitant to follow Namine, but... she didn't want her to think something was weird...

She got up to follow, sighing to herself.

“That was way better than when I play with Lux!” Demyx announced, grabbing a glass of juice rather than gather his clothes. “I got better cards than usual.”

“Because. Luxord. _Cheats_ ,” Axel said slowly.

Padding down the hall to the bathroom, Kairi knocked tentatively. “It's me.”

Namine stopped struggling with her dress, turning to open the door a little. “I'm glad you're here...”

Kairi's heart throbbed in her chest. “Need some help?”

“Yes, please. The clasp is just a little hard to reach...” Namine stood back to give her room to come in and turned around, gathering her hair to pull out of the way.

She wondered if Namine would let her do this if she _knew_. Somehow, she doubted Namine would treat her any differently, which only made the hurt worse. Gently, Kairi undid the clasp and pulled on the tab of the zipper, the touch almost too soft to be effective.

“Thank you.” Namine picked up her bra and shrugged off her dress, just letting the top fall to put it back on. Kairi turned around and took her shirt off to do up her own bra.

Lowering her voice, Namine said, “Riku... Do you think he's interested in Sora?”

Oh, damn. Kairi's eyes went a bit wide and she tried to evade. “Wow, I dunno. I guess it makes sense, they've been friends forever.”

“It seems a lot like he's burying feelings for him. Don't you think?”

She didn't want to give away Riku's secret, but she couldn't just deny it. “He sure didn't want him to play, and he never had problems with Sora taking off his clothes _before_.”

“It was also pretty obvious he couldn't win, on that last hand.” Namine reached back to zip her dress back up.

“Yeah, not unless everyone was bluffing really hard,” Kairi admitted, wrestling her shirt back on. “D'you think he was trying to protect Sora's honor, or something?”

Namine nodded. “It's interesting... And a little sad.”

“Sad?”

“Sora's just generally not very attentive to these thing... And, with how he is about his sexuality...” Namine frowned a little. “It's sad. Poor Riku.”

“You're right.” Kairi sighed, leaning into the wall. “It'd sure be nice if they got together.”

“Even if they didn't, if Riku could at least tell him without having to be afraid of the consequences... It must be awful, feeling that way for someone and not being able to tell him.” Namine fixed her hair, still frowning. She didn't notice Kairi staring at her with a slack jaw. “... Anyway, we should get back. Don't want the boys to think we're talking about them.”

Never in her life had Kairi so badly wanted to beat her head against a wall. “Yeah. They're sensitive and all,” she said, trying to sound light and breezy.

She wanted to believe that had been a veiled invitation, but... Namine would never be cruel like that, not intentionally. She followed Namine back out to the living room, eyes on the floor and heart in her stomach.


	4. A Tall Drink of Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all!
> 
> We're so sorry our updating schedule has fallen apart and become so sparse. Unfortunately, we can't promise any upcoming regularity. Stud's going back to school, Muffin is going hard on his writing career, and our mini-Muffin demands much of our attention. We CAN promise that we won't be abandoning our fanfiction! Even if it takes us a while, we will be seeing these stories through.

Axel was impossible to argue with. Riku had a test upcoming, which should have been a valid reason not to accompany his friends to a gay bar. Somehow, Axel had made a very convincing case that Riku could study drunk, and that if he could remember his lessons by the end of the night, it was proof that he could ace it. So Riku was spending the night at a bar table with his textbook and an empty glass in front of him, highlighter in hand.

And Sora. He was also spending his time with Sora, at a gay bar.

He wasn’t totally sure whether or not Sora _knew_ it was a gay bar. Granted, it was one of the most relaxed establishments of its kind, very light on flashing neon and Cher. Axel had been able to argue that it was _possible_ to get some studying done there. In theory.

In any case, Sora had happily claimed that he needed to study, too, but honestly just wanted to spend time with his friends. He probably would have come along regardless of where they went. Sora needed social bonds to survive.

“I think it might be time to get Demyx neutered,” Axel announced, returning to the table with two glasses and a beer bottle, “the leash just isn’t working.”

He’d left Demyx by the bar, where he was predictably flirting with the bartender. Oblivious as always, Demyx had no idea that he was being stared at by Zexion, who occupied a table in the corner by his lonesome.

“He might cry if he hears you say that,” Riku replied. Still dragging his highlighter across a relevant passage, he put up his other hand to accept his drink.

Axel passed it over and slid into his seat. “And another Coke for the gentleman!”

“Thanks!” Sora beamed. He was a little tipsy; every soda of the night had been spiked. “So, Riku, how’s... learning?”

“It’s happening... I think.” Riku sighed, put down his highlighter, and buried his hand in his hair. “This unit is ridiculously boring.”

“Can I make it more interesting?” Sora leaned closer. Riku’s eyes widened fractionally.

“Uh -”

Poorly suppressing laughter, Axel took a swig of beer to cover it up.

“How do you intend to do that?” Riku asked carefully.

Sora thought for a moment, glassy eyes making an approximate attempt at concentration. “I could help you think of rhymes so you’ll remember it all!”

“That might be helpful.” A bit red in the face, Riku kicked Axel under the table, punishing him for still snickering.

“Great! Um...” Sora pulled the textbook under his nose, taking a long sip of his drink. Axel considered telling him to take it slower – he’d spiked that one, too – but decided against it. For a moment, Sora stared and struggled to come up with rhymes. “... Uh...”

“Don’t worry about it,” Riku said, putting a hand on the textbook to slide it back towards him. “You should be studying, too.”

“Are you sure you don’t want a helping hand from him, Riku?” Axel asked, a parody of innocence. He was kicked again.

Sora downed the rest of his Coke. “Okay, okay. How about a song, then? That would help you remember.”

“Oh, _yeah_ , let’s make this musical,” Axel grinned.

“I don’t think that will help,” Riku flatly replied. Sora made a drunkenly disappointed sound, slumping a little more against Riku’s side. He probably wasn’t even aware he was doing it, certainly he wasn’t doggedly trying to ignore the warm, tingling press at every point of contact.

Red in the face again, Riku grasped for a distraction, “You should really be studying your own book...”

“Oh- _kay_ ,” Sora heaved a sigh.

“I can tell this is a huge burden,” Riku smirked.

Over at the bar, Demyx prepared to head back to his table after doing some heavy flirting with the bartender, being given a drink on the house for his efforts. He gave the bartender’s cheek a kiss in gratitude, while Zexion seethed. He’d gone so far as to leave his corner table and stand at the bar nearby, even ordering the same drink Demyx had, with no change in the result.

How in the hell hadn’t he been noticed yet?!

Demyx left, and Zexion took a seat, ignoring the copycat drink and struggling to understand what he was doing wrong.

“Guess who got a free drink!” Demyx announced, dropping into the seat next to Axel.

“Did you blow a guy?” Axel guessed. Demyx almost choked mid-sip.

“What, no. I’m just sexy.”

Sora’s eyes were a bit wide, and he wasn’t looking at his textbook anymore... Not that he ever was. Riku prompted him, “How’s your progress?”

“It’s... okay,” Sora answered, like he was testing whether or not that was the right answer.

“Good. Considering.” Riku decided to ignore Demyx, but he knew from experience how difficult that could be.

Sora grinned. “Maybe you should be teaching me if you know... stuff so well.”

“Yeah,” Axel, once again, fought back laughter as he spoke. “Teach him stuff, Riku.”

“Will you shut up?” Riku was tempted to kick him again.

Sora blinked, but found himself easier to distract than usual in his state. “So, Axel... What’s the deal with you and my cousin?”

“Hn? Roxas?” Axel lowered his beer, having been about to take a sip.

Demyx laughed. “You used to be so boring, over the whole Roxas thing.”

“Your sympathy warms my heart.”

“Boring how?” Sora inquired.

“He was all mopey for _ages_ ,” Demyx explained.

“The short version is, we dated, he dumped me, it sucked for a while. He _did_ break my heart, jackass.” Axel tapped Demyx’s drink when he lifted it again, and it spilled over Demyx’s hand. Riku shielded his textbook.

“Hey!” Demyx glared.

“Oh-h,” Sora hummed, leaning out of the splash zone. “I could never get that much out of him.”

“It’s fine _now_. I can look back on our relationship fondly enough, I guess,” Axel shrugged. “Wasn’t a whole to tell though; he didn’t want to be tied down to a guy he wouldn’t see as much, once I was in college. I got over it after a while, lot of high school relationships end with the school year.”

“I get it.” This was still a little worrying to Sora, who wasn’t _entirely_ oblivious to Roxas’s actions. “So do you like any guys?”

He clearly had no idea how to talk about this. It was cute that he was trying, though.

“No. Apart from Riku, obviously. He is the light of my life, and I couldn’t bear to be apart from him.”

“You said that about me, this morning,” Demyx argued.

“Because you paid for my coffee.”

Not sure what to make of that, Sora turned to Riku. “What about you?”

Riku kept his eyes on his textbook. “I haven’t really had time for romance.”

“Oh. Okay, that’s cool.”

“And _you_ ,” Axel indicated towards Sora with his beer. “Not much point in asking, right?”

Sora blushed, getting a bit panicked. He didn’t totally understand what Axel was getting at. “Wha?! What does that mean?”

“You’re not very subtle, is what that means,” Axel grinned. Riku shot him a cool look, and Axel continued, “The whole crush-on-Kairi thing.”

He was still blushing, but Sora relaxed a bit. “Oh, yeah.”

Riku glowered. This was not a conversation he wanted to be a part of.

Axel, damn him, pretended not to notice, but did redirect his line of fire. “And then we have Demyx, who won’t recognize love even if it’s balls-deep inside him.”

Still mopping up his drink, Demyx blushed furiously. “Shut up, that’s not true.”

Over at the bar, Zexion drummed his fingers against the counter and fixedly stared.

“Sure it isn’t.” Axel took a swig.

Flushed more darkly than anyone, Sora needed a second to recover from Axel’s colourful choice of words. “Um... So it’s that obvious I like Kairi?”

“Everyone knows it,” Riku put in, uncapping his highlighter.

“I can’t fault you for taste. We redheads have an undeniable allure,” Axel said.

“I’ve been wondering if I should tell her,” Sora said.

Axel raised an eyebrow. “... Why?”

Shit. Riku attempted to get Axel’s attention subtly, shaking his head, but Axel was drinking and didn’t notice.

“Um, I guess because she should know?” Sora blinked. He hadn’t expected to be asked _why_.

“That puts her in a position where she has to respond. That’s kind of awkward, considering,” Axel remarked.

Sora was suddenly anxious. “Considering what?”

Riku shook his head more obviously. Axel stared.

“You... _did_ pick up on the fact that she’s a lesbian?”

Sora began to grin, as though he was picking up on a joke. “You mean Kairi?”

“Redheaded girl, kind of short, can’t help but look at Namine’s breasts when they’re presented? Yeah, pretty sure she’s gay.”

Riku dropped the highlighter, head sinking into his hands.

“Namine?” Sora’s lips were still twitching, but he was otherwise blank. “No way, they’re good friends. And girls are just like that, you know?”

“... I haven’t had enough to drink for this conversation.” Axel finished off his beer and got up to head to the bar. Demyx had missed most of the discussion, and Riku still hadn’t lifted his head.

Sora, naturally, turned to Riku. “He’s just kidding around, right?”

“... I think you’d need to ask Kairi,” Riku evaded.

“But... how can I ask her something like that?” Sora’s eyes widened.

“I don’t know.” This was so uncomfortable. Riku would’ve liked to do this entire evening over.

“Will she get mad at me?”

“I don’t think so,” Riku said. “Not if you’re polite about it.”

Sora floundered. “But she... With Namine... Does it really look like that?”

Damn it. Riku sighed. “It seemed like it could be that way.”

“You saw it, too?!” Sora’s eyes grew huge.

“I couldn’t be sure one way or another,” Riku tried to backtrack, for Kairi’s sake.

“So everyone knows I like Kairi, and everyone thinks Kairi likes Namine? Is that right?” Sora looked around the table helplessly.

“I don’t,” Demyx piped up.

“Thanks...” Sora slumped.

But of course, Demyx went on. “I mean, I kind of thought you liked Riku and I didn’t pay much attention to what the girls were doing.”

Riku rolled his eyes. Mercifully, Sora was in too much shock to process that.

“Well, I like Riku, too. He’s my best friend.”

“Oh, so it’s like that,” Demyx nodded.

“No, it isn’t,” Riku said.

“... Like...? _Huh?_ ” Sora didn’t get it. He didn’t he got _anything_ , anymore. A look of utter confusion was all that he could muster.

Axel returned with two drinks in hand. “Shit, did we break him?”

“Can we get off this topic?” Riku asked.

“Is that for me?” Demyx lit up.

“This one’s also courtesy of the guy tending bar,” Axel said, passing Demyx the glass. “Think he likes you.”

Almost glowing, Demyx sent him a wave. “Think I might go home with him. Bartenders are safe, right? They can’t do anything funny ‘cause I could track them right back to here.”

It was dawning on Zexion that the way to Demyx’s heart might be through free drinks. He ordered another with the demand that it be taken to Demyx.

Anonymously, of course. He couldn’t be too obvious.

“Plus, if I have sex with him, I might get more free drinks later,” Demyx was saying when a server approached their table.

“For ‘Demyx’,” the server announced, setting the drink down with a grin. “You have an anonymous admirer.”

“He must really want to get you drunk,” Axel commented, assuming as they all did that the bartender had sent yet another gift. Demyx just beamed.

That was something... But not quite as satisfying a reaction as Zexion had hoped. He’d thought Demyx might whirl around, looking for the mysterious drink benefactor, only for his eyes to land on Zexion and be instantly struck smitten.

Irritated with Demyx (mostly for being so content), Riku leaned in to Sora and muttered, “Forget what they said, alright?”

“... ‘Kay,” Sora hesitated. “Do you think I should tell Kairi?”

He wanted to say no. “If you think you should.”

Sora relaxed, apparently satisfied with the totally non-committal response . “That’s good. You’re the only one who really knows us, so it’s just your opinion that matters.”

“Yeah...” Riku averted his guilty gaze.

“You remember how much hangovers suck? That’s impending,” Axel warned Demyx, who was gleefully finishing off his drinks.

“I don’t have a drink anymore!” Sora announced.

“On it.” Axel rose from the table, only to notice that Zexion was _still there_ , watching their table with ever-increasing spite. He was almost impressed.

Zexion still had not touched his drink. He only stopped watching Demyx to follow Axel with his eyes as he came up to lean against the bar beside him.

“You don’t think you’re subtle, do you?” Axel asked. Zexion arched an eyebrow.

“On the contrary. I’ve been as conspicuous as possible.”

“Thank god. If you were stalking a regular person, you’d be in prison.”

That was offensive. “I am not stalking,” Zexion countered.

“I’m excited to hear your flimsy explanation about what you _are_ doing,” Axel said.

“I am _attempting_ to make my feelings known to a person who notices almost nothing outside of his tunnel vision,” Zexion replied tetchily.

“You have amazingly contradictory taste.” Shaking his head, Axel flagged down the bartender.

“This would be much more efficient if he was removed from the distraction.”

Axel began to smirk. “Are you asking me for _help?_ ”

“In the only way I can trust,” Zexion confirmed, “by getting out of the way.”

“Hm.” Axel paused to order Sora’s drink, slapping down a bill. “I don’t see anything in it for me.”

“You haven’t asked for anything yet,” Zexion pointed out.

“That’s because I can’t think of anything I want more than to watch you stare at Demyx while he continually fails to notice. It’s better than HBO,” Axel declared.

Zexion narrowed his eyes.

“There’s always money,” Axel went on, picking up the rum and Coke he’d ordered.

“Will you convince the others to leave as well?”

“You’d have to pay per person.”

“How much?”

“Let’s see,” Axel glanced back at his table. “Three people, without tipping off Demyx... Best make it an even hundred.”

Zexion’s lip curled. “... And without encouraging the bartender any further.”

“For that, you might have to throw in a beer for me to take to-go.”

“Fine.”

“You have yourself a deal,” Axel decided. “Money up-front.”

“Half, and I’ll buy the drink now,” Zexion denied.

That suited Axel just fine. “Fair enough.”

Zexion counted out cash while Axel ordered himself a bottle of beer. 

“Wonder what’s taking Axel so long,” Demyx pondered, slurring Axel’s name just a bit. All at once, he was feeling the effects of the alcohol.

“Dunno...” Sora leaned into Riku heavily, feeling a bit sleepy and light-headed, himself.

Axel came back then, sliding Sora’s drink over. “Got to drink that pretty fast, we’re being cut off.”

“What? Why?” Riku frowned. They weren’t being loud or obnoxious.

“Apparently they think we’ve been here too long. They didn’t say anything about Demyx, though. Blatant favouritism.”

“Oh, good,” Demyx said brightly.

Sora blinked. “Were we being too loud or something?”

“They’re under the impression that some of us have gotten a bit too drunk,” Axel said, raising an eyebrow at Sora and Riku. Sora _was_ almost in his lap by now, and Riku reddened at the implication. Sora, however, missed it completely.

“Let’s just get out of here. You can keep studying at home if you’re that determined, Riku,” Axel said.

Riku shut his textbook. “I think I’ve gotten as far as I can get.”

“That doesn’t bode well,” Axel remarked. “That looks pretty platonic from where I’m standing.”

“ _With studying._ ”

Sora wasn’t listening, finishing off his drink and getting up with some assistance from Riku. Axel nudged Demyx.

“You staying?” he asked.

Naturally, it didn’t occur to Demyx that it might be rude or insensitive not to accompany them out. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“Don’t drink too much,” Axel cautioned. Eyeing Sora’s weaving, he said, “I’ll grab a bottle of water or something for Sora, one second.”

“Are we going home, then?” Sora asked Riku.

“Might as well.”

“My home? Or...?” Sora trailed off, clearly having trouble with the concept.

“Yeah. I’ll walk you there.”

“Cool. No one was going to get any studying done here, anyway,” Sora declared, and turned to look for Axel in time to miss Riku’s flailing gesture of exasperation.

A moment later, Axel returned with another fifty dollars and a bottle of water. “Alright, are we good to go? Call me if you need a way home, Demyx.”

Demyx lifted his nearly-empty glass to them and drained the last of it. As if he planned on going _home_ – Axel was hilarious.

There was no point in hogging a whole table to himself now, though, so he went over to melt against the bar. Zexion appreciated him being closer, drumming his fingers against the bar anxiously while he watched and tried to formulate a subtle strategy to get his attention. He didn’t want to be too direct, and he definitely didn’t want to involve the bartender...

... But there really wasn’t any feasible plan he could conduct from where he was. He’d have to be bold.

Bold was _not_ his usual style.

Zexion got up, and went to sit next to Demyx, heart hammering.

It took Demyx a few seconds to glance his way, but he was obviously surprised when it dawned on him that he _knew_ the guy in the seat beside him. He’d seen him around campus, even if he didn’t actually know his name.

“Hey!”

Pleased, Zexion quickly decided the best route was to pretend that their meeting was coincidence. “Demyx. Good evening.”

Alcohol took away Demyx’s paper-thin filter, so he had no qualms saying to someone he considered a stranger, “I didn’t know you were gay.”

“I-... Well, I...” Legitimately, Zexion had no idea how to respond to that. Reddening, it did occur to him that Demyx might take an interest if he said, “Yes.”

“Not that I’d’ve known otherwise, or anything,” Demyx went on. “I don’t just _assume_ everyone’s gay. You don’t look like the kind of guy who goes to bars a lot, either!”

“I don’t, often.” Conveniently, Demyx always tagged his location when posting photos. That habit was bound to draw in a person with ill intent one day; Zexion made a mental note to warn him of that if all went well tonight. 

Demyx’s attention was already straying. He wanted another drink, and maybe to see if the bartender still liked him. “Well, yeah, guess you wouldn’t, ‘cause you’re here alone and what’s the point of going to a bar if it’s not with friends? Or sex.”

“I had a feeling the company would be better if I came here tonight,” Zexion replied, and praised himself for his flawless execution of flirting.

Demyx blinked and looked around. “Really? But it’s not very busy tonight.”

Zexion lowered his voice slightly. “I have excellent instincts.”

“’F you say so!” Demyx shrugged, watching the bartender. Zexion stared at Demyx with a raised brow, narrowing his eyes when the bartender winked Demyx’s way.

How could any one person be so oblivious?!

“Sorry, jus’ getting another drink,” Demyx said, leaning into his hands and propping himself against the bar.

“You aren’t concerned you’re having too much?”

“S’ _fine_ ,” Demyx waved a hand. “I’ll have some water soon.”

Ideas were starting to slot into place. “... Will you be able to get home, then?”

“I was gon’ call Axel, or a cab, or go home with a guy,” Demyx listed his options with emphasis on the third, which Zexion _could not let happen._

“... I see. It would be safer to go home with someone you know.”

Technically speaking, Zexion did not fall into that category. However, to Demyx’s drunken logic, someone he’d seen around campus absolutely qualified as ‘a friend’. “I guess so... but that might kind ‘f, you know...”

“I don’t know. Please elaborate.”

“It might kill th’point,” Demyx pouted. “I was hoping to get laid tonight.”

“... And those two things are mutually exclusive?”

The clouds pulled back as revelation dawned... sort of. “Oh! Y’want to have sex?”

... Oh, hell.

Well. This wasn’t how Zexion had intended things to go, exactly. Demyx was going to consider this a hook-up now, instead of the start of a beautiful relationship that would span the rest of their lives.

But...

“I... Well, that is, if you were to go home with someone, it should be someone who could take care of you,” Zexion replied, cagey.

“And you’d do that?” Demyx was giving him a very serious once-over. He’d found Zexion attractive before, so he knew beer goggles weren’t blinding him. He’d be happy going home with this guy, whose name he didn’t know but was practically a friend anyway.

Damn it. He wished he remembered his name. Did Demyx ever know it?

Zexion replied without hesitation, unaware where Demyx’s mind had gone. “Yes.”

“Okay,” Demyx reddened with a grin. “I’ll go with you.”

Okay. Okay, excellent. Zexion was flooded with simultaneous feelings of victory and terror. He’d never accounted for a scenario in which they started off with casual sex. Of course he knew - perhaps better than anyone - that this was how Demyx operated. Somehow, though, he had always imagined that on the day Demyx took notice of him, he would see Zexion differently. He _wanted_ Demyx, obviously, but this wasn’t the way he planned for it to happen. The thought of being another meaningless conquest to be forgotten the next day was…

… And yet, here was the only opportunity he’d had in all the time he’d pursued this very moment. Demyx was actually talking with him, Demyx was looking at him and only him… more or less. Was he truthfully willing to wait another two years for this to happen again? And was he really going to pay Axel a hundred damn dollars for nothing because it wasn’t just how he’d imagined?

No, Zexion wasn’t going to lose his chance, and perhaps he’d known that all along. He hadn’t allowed fear or uncertainty to sway his actions for a very long time, and it wouldn’t start again with this. 

He could do this. Sex with Demyx.

...

Maybe he wasn’t fit to take care of Demyx in his drunken state, after all. He felt somewhat faint.

“Want to go? Unl’ss you still want a drink.”

Zexion’s drink was untouched in front of his former seat. “I’m fine.”

Demyx sprang up without so much as a glance at the bartender, who was looking faintly disappointed. “Are we gonna walk?” he asked.

“We may have to. I unfortunately spent my cab fare.”

“S’okay by me,” Demyx beamed, taking Zexion’s arm. “So, how far d’you live? Are you on campus?”

The touch sparked a flush of warmth, but this wasn’t _right_. He was certain Demyx didn’t _understand_ , yet. “I have an apartment just behind the dorms.”

“Sounds convenient,” Demyx commented without really hearing himself. He was busy looking at every part of Zexion with the eye of someone intending to get intimately acquainted with each feature. “Axel’n me have a place, but it’s kind of far.”

“I would prefer my own. I have no roommates.”

Demyx grinned. “That’s handy.”

Zexion nodded, not admitting that he simply couldn’t tolerate other people enough to live with someone. He steered Demyx, leading the way.

“So, what program ‘re you even in?” Demyx asked. No harm in getting to know his imminent lay. “I feel like I see you a lot, but never in my classes.”

That would be because Zexion spent every moment not devoted to his education, devoted to Demyx. “I’m working on my Master’s degree in Advanced Sciences and Research.”

Demyx blinked. “... Whoa.”

Though he wasn’t sure Demyx was sober enough to connect that Zexion wasn’t old enough for that claim, he elaborated, “I was admitted early.”

“Yeah,” Demyx marvelled. “So you’re like, crazy-smart.”

“I have a temperament for academics,” Zexion replied.

Demyx laughed. “S’nother way of saying what I said.”

“Saying I’m smart implies it is inherent,” Zexion corrected.

“Implies... um, huh?”

“Implies I was born with it,” Zexion patiently explained. “That I didn’t work for my knowledge.”

“Oh,” Demyx nodded a little, his head swimming pleasantly when he did so. “I get it.”

“How is your program going?” Zexion didn’t need to ask about Demyx’s program, of course. He knew his entire profile. A focus on music with a minor in marine biology. The latter was of more interest to Zexion – he knew nothing about music and found most of it distracting.

“S’good! A lot of it is really obvious stuff, so it’s kinda boring sometimes?” Demyx said. “But my minor is cool. Lot ‘f stuff about... aquatic stuff.”

“You enjoy the water, then?”

“Yeah! I’d live underwater if I could,” Demyx almost giggled, leaning into Zexion a bit more. He blushed, and allowed it only because it was _Demyx_.

That gave him an idea, though. “There’s no pool facility in the athletics centre, correct?”

“No. I _wish_.”

“... If you’re interested, my building has a pool,” Zexion offered. Demyx lit up.

“Really?”

Zexion nodded, heart hammering. “Every resident has access to it. I could let you in.”

“That’d be _awesome_ ,” Demyx exclaimed, starry-eyed. “But I might never go home.”

Yes, please.

“We could make it... a regular occurrence,” Zexion suggested, flushed.

Demyx made a sound of utter pleasure. “Oh my god, you’re like... my hero.”

All speech failed him. Zexion’s blush worsened as he imagined it: Demyx’s thanks turning to admiration, turning to adoration...

“What about, like, every weekend?”

Zexion cleared his throat until the power of speech returned. “That can be arranged.”

“ _Awesome!_ And I won’t be bugging you?” Not that Demyx was terribly concerned if he made a nuisance of himself, unless Zexion took away the offer as a result.

“Not at all. I’d be delighted to have you.” He was entirely sincere.

It was partially alcohol, but mostly gratitude talking when he gushed, “You can have me as soon as we get to your place.”

Zexion brushed more hair in front of his eyes. “Yes, well...”

“What?” Demyx frowned. He wished he hadn’t done that; he wanted to see Zexion’s face.

“Nothing,” Zexion replied. “Nothing at all.” He needed to be more okay with this. He knew he could work up to something longterm with this pool arrangement.

However, the perceived hesitation made Demyx self-conscious. “Y’know, if you don’t want to...”

“I want to,” Zexion said quickly.

“’Kay... I just don’t want to take advantage ‘f you, or anything.”

Between the alcohol, and Zexion knowing so much more... _feeling_ so much more... “If anything, I would be the one taking advantage.”

Zexion spoke quietly, enough so that Demyx didn’t quite hear him. All Demyx really understood now was that he was doubting his own attractiveness, so he said, “Hey – kiss me?”

For a second, Zexion just had to marvel that those words came from Demyx’s mouth. He stopped and turned to him, trying to think if there was a way to make this _special_ , somehow.

“... Unless you don’t kiss?” Demyx misinterpreted the pause. “I mean, I like to, but if you don’t -”

Zexion pulled him down by the collar, and sealed their lips together. Cut off before he could get into a good ramble, Demyx melted into it with a hum.

This wasn’t Zexion’s first kiss by a long shot, but he still wasn’t well versed in the etiquette. He took a little too long to deepen the kiss and Demyx didn’t have that kind of patience; he took over with ease, even without being used to taking a domineering role. At least Zexion got it and parted his lips for him, fingers still tightly wound in his collar.

He felt paralyzed. He’d _dreamed_ of this.

Demyx was good at this, too, teasing with his tongue to get Zexion to engage more, warm hands settling on his waist. With a faint sound, Zexion followed the rhythm he’d set. He tasted alcohol, mostly, but he’d expected that.

Slowly, Demyx withdrew and licked his lips in the wake of the kiss. Blushing like a virgin, Zexion stared, forgetting for several seconds that he should let go of Demyx’s shirt.

“... Y’wanna keep going...?” Demyx murmured.

“Keep – keep walking, you mean?” Zexion, in a slight daze, confirmed. “Yes – it’s not far from here.”

“Mm. Okay,” Demyx grinned lazily, and god, it was hard to drag any still-functioning part of his brain away from the imprint of that feeling, the ache to recapture it before the absence of his mouth and hands cooled completely. Zexion wavered very slightly as he led, lips tingling.

Trusting Zexion completely to steer him, Demyx latched to him again and asked, “Do you have _stuff?_ Condoms and stuff.”

That was something he hadn’t remembered to account for. The chemical make-up of personal lubricant had occasional applications in his experiments, though, so he _should_ be prepared... “I may have some lubrication.”

Demyx checked his pockets and was relieved to find two still stowed in there. “I’ve got condoms!”

Zexion relaxed a little. “You aren’t aware of having any illnesses, are you?”

“Nah. And I get checked, jus’ in case. You don’t, do you?”

“Good to know,” Zexion murmured. Reports of Demyx’s promiscuity may have been exaggerated – It would improve his chances if they were. Of course, he might just have been very safe, and very lucky. “I’m not carrying anything, I assure you.”

“Oh, and – are you into anything?” Demyx reddened a bit, getting giggly partway through the question.

“Into -?” Zexion honestly wouldn’t have understood if not for the laughter. “Oh. Not that I know of.”

“S’okay if you are, I like some kinky stuff. It’s okay if you don’t, too,” Demyx added. He tilted his head. “You’re really...”

“Really what?”

“Don’t... don’t take it the wrong way, okay? You’re really pretty.”

Zexion swallowed hard. He’d never blushed so much in one night.

“Never got close enough to notice, before,” Demyx grinned. “What haven’t you said hi, before?”

“It-...” Fully aware of their proximity, Zexion rapidly lost composure. “Th-the timing never seemed appropriate. You wouldn’t have noticed if I approached you with your friends around.”

“If you say so,” Demyx laughed.

“You’re not very observant,” Zexion said.

“Hey...!”

“Just stating facts.”

Demyx appeared offended, though. “I observe _plenty_...!”

Zexion wondered if he should amend the statement... slightly. “I’m not exactly noticeable.”

“I’ve noticed you,” Demyx frowned. “I see you all the time.”

“You have?” Part of Zexion noted that none of his ‘noticing’ had prompted Demyx into any interaction, or being aware of the way he’d been looking at Demyx for months.

“Yeah. But you always look really unfriendly and intense and kind of scary?”

“.. I see.” Zexion blinked. “Truth be told, I prefer being unapproachable.”

“But... why? Doesn’t that make it hard to make friends?”

“I don’t have any strong desire for friends.” Zexion took in Demyx’s confusion with a mite of worry. “Has that turned you off of me, too?”

“I just don’t get it,” Demyx started to pout. “Won’t we be friends? I’m usually friends with guys I sleep with.”

Zexion hid his sudden fear. “We can be. If you want.”

“Mmn, ‘course I do,” Demyx said. “You can’t just offer to let me swim and then say we _can’t_ be friends.”

Zexion relaxed. “I would like to get to know each other.”

“After sex?” Demyx checked, because he kept looking at Zexion’s mouth and he really wanted it on _his_ mouth again.

“At any time,” Zexion swallowed.

“Sex first.” Demyx grinned and caught Zexion’s hand with his own.

It felt so natural. Well, it did once Zexion had adjusted his hold for maximum comfort. He managed a little smile back. “Very well.”

“That’s it, right?” Demyx pointed out the building they seemed to be approaching. “Not much longer?”

Zexion nodded and removed his keys.

The air and the wait cleared Demyx’s head a little, enough to make him feel less drunk and more buzzed with anticipation. “C’n we make out in the elevator?”

“I... suppose,” Zexion said, because he wanted to do whatever Demyx wanted to do.

“What floor are you even on? If it’s gonna take a long time...” Demyx trailed off, honestly considering starting things _now_. He could at least get to hand stuff on a long enough elevator ride. “Sixth. Not terribly far,” Zexion promised, and let them into the lobby.

“I guess that’s enough time to make out. Not for anything else, though,” Demyx mused.

Zexion hadn’t expected that degree of boldness from him, but he wasn’t surprised by it either. He’d never actually considered any sort of public foreplay, himself, but he could get into it if that was Demyx’s thing. “This way,” he beckoned, leading them to the elevators. The one he called arrived promptly, no one else using them at this hour.

Demyx was kissing him before the doors even closed. Zexion couldn’t plan for his movements, they were too sudden, but he was still able to respond quicker this time. He tilted his head and parted his lips for him, hands sliding clumsily around Demyx’s waist. Demyx reached behind to press the button for the sixth floor and accidentally got the seventh and eighth along the way.

One leg slid between Zexion’s. Arching into it, Zexion inhaled softly, otherwise quiet as he explored Demyx’s mouth with a thorough curiosity. Overheating fast, Demyx unthinkingly went to undo his jeans.

“Demyx,” Zexion murmured against his lips, a bit urgently. His visible eye shifted up to the display above the door as it rapidly moved past ‘4’ and ‘5’.

His hand slid back up as Demyx broke away to check where they were, and the doors opened to the sixth floor. “Oh, good!” Demyx practically tugged him out of the elevator, not giving Zexion time to get his bearings.

Biting his lip, Demyx ran his hands over Zexion’s sides. “So... Which one’s yours?”

Never in Zexion’s life had he had so much trouble with focus. He pulled away just to keep his head together and started leading them to unit 609. “This way.”

Demyx didn’t make it easy for either of them to walk. He seemed to be trying to wrap himself back around Zexion’s shoulders.

“Are you... like this with everyone you meet in bars?” Zexion breathed.

“Mn – does it matter?” Demyx blinked.

“It matters to me.”

Demyx didn’t understand, but he shrugged and said, “I guess I am?”

Zexion just nodded and unlocked his door. “Please leave your shoes in the entryway...”

The apartment hardly appeared lived in. His minimal possessions were in perfect order, apart from a few textbooks stacked on a small table in the kitchen. His bedroom door was open, and another door beside it was firmly shut with a towel jammed into the space between the door and frame.

“Whoa.” Demyx knelt down to untie his shoes, sounding unnerved. “It’s so... clean...”

“I work long hours in the labs. I sleep there fairly frequently,” Zexion explained.

“You pay all this money for a place you don’t stay in?” Demyx looked confused. Zexion hesitated.

“I have government support.”

“Like... a scholarship or something?” About to get up, Demyx decided against standing right away in favour of running his hands up Zexion’s legs instead.

Gaze fixed on Demyx, Zexion shook his head. “Scholarships only pay my tuition.”

“Oh... so...” Not getting it, Demyx tilted his head and began working open Zexion’s pants.

“... It’s compensation,” Zexion replied tonelessly. “For the loss of my parents.”

Demyx stopped.

Instantly, Zexion wished he could snatch the words back. It was the truth, and it hadn’t even occurred to him to lie or evade the question - though, come to that, Demyx hadn’t really _asked_ anything. He’d been obliged to repeat the basic fact of his parents’ deaths so many times to social workers, teachers, and administrators over the years that the telling failed to stir up any great emotion anymore. Unfortunately, he’d never been able to work out the right time to mention being an orphan to a friend.

“... I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to bring that up so early.”

Sitting back on his heels, Demyx paused and processed, missing that almost entirely. His tone entirely frank, he replied, “I dunno what people are supposed to say, here. Sorry.”

“Don’t say anything, then. It was years ago.” Zexion didn’t want him to stop, not because of this. “We should move this to the bedroom.”

“Um, you’re sure you still want to...?” Demyx got up, accepting Zexion’s proffered hand.

“I’m sure.”

“... Bedroom. Okay,” Demyx said, leaning into him again with a cautiously returning smile. If Zexion said it was a while ago, if he didn’t want to _stop_ because the mood had dipped... That was fine. Demyx could move past it, too.

Demyx remembered that he wanted his jeans off and was already moving them down over his hips when he sank onto Zexion’s mattress. The bed was low and easily wide enough for two or three people, as neatly made up as the rest of the apartment.

“You asked me before if I had anything in particular I liked,” Zexion murmured. “I didn’t ask about you.”

Reaching up to bring Zexion closer – preferably into his lap – Demyx thought it over. “I just like sex. All kinds. I get turned on just the same with kinky stuff and without.”

Blushing, Zexion rested over his lap. “I’ll take you at your word.”

Heat rekindling, Demyx leaned in to kiss him again. Zexion’s chest tightened reflexively, but he was ready this time, kissing back. They palmed at each other, figuring out quickly that nothing seemed to be off limits or ‘too fast’; Demyx felt curiously up his shirt and pulled away from the kiss the moment he caught on to the fact that Zexion wanted to take his shirt off.

“Too hot,” he agreed.

“Mn.” Zexion didn’t waste any time teasing or trying to be sensual. Demyx was too often too clothed, and this was an excellent opportunity to fix that. Luckily, Demyx seemed to be of the same mind – he let Zexion take everything off of him and slid back onto the bed, giving him all the access he wanted.

 _All he wanted_.

Zexion swept Demyx’s body with his eyes, then his hands, intent on exploring him. Demyx hummed a little, stirring satisfaction the likes Zexion had never experienced before. He didn’t care about a damn thing apart from touching him, and Zexion shifted to begin covering his throat, collar, and chest in hungry, open-mouthed kisses.

It was a little surprising, but maybe Zexion was particularly passionate in bed – Demyx had to assume so. He curled one hand in Zexion’s shirt tightly, exhaling sharply and moaning when Zexion sucked at his throat and massaged his hips. Encouraged, Zexion drew Demyx’s hips against his own with eager hands roaming over his ass.

“Ah – you need less clothes,” Demyx groaned, bucking up against him with a hard cock looking for contact.

“... In a moment,” Zexion breathed. He hadn’t even considered that yet, and he didn’t want to pull away. He pushed Demyx back until he was lying down, spread out, in the perfect position to worship with his mouth. His lips worked down from his chest, one hand straying from his backside to tease over a nipple, testing his responsiveness and finding the result _glorious_. Demyx’s pout gave way to a blissful shiver and whine.

Good incentive to be relentless, then. Dexterous fingers rolled and skimmed and circled, and Zexion’s mouth worked lower, in no apparent rush. Demyx’s breathing grew erratic and desperate, and in no time he was imploring him, “Mn, _please_...”

Zexion was almost thrown by the begging, just because it happened so quickly. “What do you want?” he asked, faintly teasing but honestly wanting to know. Demyx had to _need_ him, after this was over.

“Just, faster, or more, or both,” Demyx whined, biting his lip.

“Mn.” Zexion could do that, unspecific as he was. He took his hands away to feel up Demyx’s thighs and push them apart, keeping his legs supported and kissing inward from his thigh.

Demyx shifted up to his elbows, flushed with lust. Zexion ducked his head a little, his hair falling in a curtain over his face. He hadn’t actually done _this_ before, specifically, but he reminded himself it wasn’t nearly as unsanitary as instinct told him. Besides, this was Demyx, he was doing this _with Demyx_ , and he’d do anything to please him.

He pressed a gentle kiss to the head of Demyx’s cock and started to part his lips.

“ _Ah_...” Demyx’s breath hitched over a moan. “That – That’s what I want. Mn...”

Zexion’s pleased sigh was muffled as he took the crown into his mouth, flicking his tongue over the glans while he continued feeling up his thighs. Still watching, Demyx could make out the blue flash of his eyes, watched his cheeks hollow.

“So sexy,” Demyx murmured through uneven breaths. He still wished Zexion was wearing less – nothing would be preferred – but he could happily just watch his face.

Closing his eyes in concentration, Zexion took a little more, swallowing cock until it became uncomfortable. He backed off a little but Demyx obviously didn’t mind; Zexion called to memory all he’d ever read about oral sex and stroked what he couldn’t fit in his mouth, giving thorough sucks while he experimented with his tongue.

Demyx needed to _grab_ something, fuck. He didn’t want to tug Zexion’s hair, that was bad form unless invited... So the sheets would do. The strength gave out in his arms and he sank, clutching the blanket. Zexion was too inexperienced to pass it off, not quite managing to move his head in tandem with his strokes, but it really didn’t matter. Demyx whimpered at an enthusiastic and curious swirl of Zexion’s tongue.

Then his hips twitched, and Zexion pulled back in alarm, hand leaving his thigh to press Demyx’s hips down flush to the mattress. His grip was a bit firmer than necessary, which made Demyx both hotter and sheepish.

“Ah, I’ll keep still – Don’t stop,” he pleaded.

Every twitch and sound helped Zexion gain confidence. He recovered quickly, twisting his hand and stroking faster, gentle. He moved in to lap at the head again, cursing himself as the realization struck that he should have gotten lubrication beforehand.

At least Demyx didn’t seem to mind. He pulled at the bed covers to avoid moving into Zexion’s mouth, small moans escaping with increasing frequency. His blush returned vividly, tipsy dizziness elevating pleasure until -

“Ah – stop, or, um, do more?”

Zexion desperately did not want to stop. Still, he drew back with a soft smack of his lips, crawling up over his hips and sliding his hands up Demyx’s chest. He wasn’t about to stop touching _entirely_. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Demyx was a little hazy, trying to bring himself back down.

“Mm.” Nodding a little, Zexion leaned down to kiss his collarbone again, lifting just his eyes.

Demyx was still intoxicated enough to have trouble wrapping his head around that. “What about... what you want...?”

“That is what I want,” Zexion answered, lips brushing his throat.

In that case... “Could I top?” Demyx breathed.

He’d considered both possibilities many times, and didn’t need to think it over. “You may,” Zexion agreed, sitting back. “The lubrication is in the other room...”

 _Yes_. His partners hardly _ever_ let him top – Axel did, sometimes, but Demyx was kind of a natural bottom. “Really?” he perked up, beginning to push himself back up from his position sprawled on the bed. Still in his lap, Zexion adjusted to keep from sliding off.

“I would like that,” he confirmed, almost shy.

Demyx kissed him, firm and appreciative, and held onto Zexion’s hips to keep him there. Rocking down against him, Zexion admitted to himself that he really did need his clothes off, now.

“I’ll get the lube.” Breaking away, Demyx began to guide Zexion to the mattress instead, only for Zexion to press back with a look of hesitation.

“I-I really should do that.” Infatuation or no, he couldn’t let any untrained individual into his home lab.

“Mm... Okay. Wait, first -” Demyx sat up, almost following Zexion off the bed with a grin. “Can I see you naked?”

“Of course.” Zexion went to remove his shirt, then stopped. “Do you want to...?”

Demyx nodded immediately. He slid to the end of the bed and took the hem of his shirt, giving Zexion a quick kiss before rucking it up. They had a hard time keeping hands off each other in the process, but Demyx happily looked him over at the first opportunity. He briefly considered finishing stripping Zexion and pressing him right back to the bed, but he _wanted_ too badly to give in to the need to get off just yet. He went for Zexion’s neatly pressed slacks, meeting every other kiss as Zexion more often missed his lips.

He’d barely taken them off before Demyx was checking how hard Zexion was by feel instead of sight. They pressed themselves closer together, eager, and Demyx left hot kisses down the column of his throat.

“Mn... Okay, lube,” Demyx said, revelling in Zexion’s little moan. He’d surprised himself with it, and Zexion was blushing.

“Yes...” Slinking back, Zexion cast Demyx another long look, like he needed to memorize every inch of revealed skin to tide him over for the few minutes they’d be apart.

“I’ll wait here, I guess,” Demyx sat back, and seriously considered locating his phone. He wanted to snap a picture of Zexion, or text Axel to gush about getting to top someone so hot. Zexion had barely been gone a second before he decided to occupy himself another way.

In the hallway, Zexion extracted the towel from the door jamb and slipped inside his home lab, which had originally been intended to be a second bedroom. He hastened to the closet, where he had set up a very organized compartment system, and retrieved the half-used bottle he needed.

When he came back, he found Demyx stroking his cock with a lazy grin, and thought his legs might give out from the rush of heat. It left him feel weak, abuzz with want.

“C’mere?” Demyx’s hand drifted away and he sat up again, giving Zexion his best come-hither look. It might have been comical if it hadn’t been so devastatingly effective. Eyes wide, Zexion nodded absently and settled over Demyx’s hips as he was coaxed to. He thought Demyx might grab the lube, pin him down, but instead Demyx kissed him deeply. He was just enjoying holding someone at the moment, content to make out for as long as his patience let him.

Basking in contentment, Zexion kissed him back and sank into his arms. Zexion stayed there, kissing along his jaw as Demyx reached over for the lube. He gave it a quizzical look, the bottle entirely unfamiliar, but he opened it to coat his fingers anyway.

“Okay...?” Tentative, Demyx moved Zexion just enough to brush his entrance with one wet finger. They were still close, and god, Zexion just wanted to wrap himself up in Demyx and get closer, _closer_ -

“Yes, it’s fine,” he said, because every second Demyx wasn’t inside him now was a second wasted.

He only had a little experience with... this part. His dalliances with Vexen were recent and infrequent, and he barely considered using him much different than using a toy. This was different. Zexion told himself to relax, appreciating that Demyx was going slow with his breach. He pulled Demyx into another kiss, angling his hips forward to brush his cock while Demyx worked the single digit in.

Zexion groaned sharply into his mouth when he adjusted his angle, and already Demyx was starting to press a second into him. The sound was vibration against Demyx’s tongue and he loved _that_ , needed more like it, so began to stretch him with little rotations against the tight muscle.

“You’re so hot, oh my god...” Demyx dragged his lips down to Zexion’s jaw, murmuring thoughtlessly. He had no idea he’d stunned Zexion, no idea Zexion had only ever dreamed he’d say that about _him_. “Can you – more?”

“I can,” Zexion confirmed. He could do anything Demyx wanted; it was all complete bliss.

Lips descending on Zexion’s neck, Demyx gently probed with a third finger, slowly working him open to take it to the knuckle. Zexion wrapped around him tight, breath picking up harshly.

“Am I hurting you?” Demyx asked between kisses, muffled.

Zexion allowed himself to rest against Demyx’s shoulder, wanting to hold and be held by him, as though this was something _real_. “I’m not quite used to this...”

“I can go slow,” Demyx promised, unwrapping from him just enough to grab the lube again. “And, more ‘f this... This’ll help. Don’t wanna make you hurt, I want to hear you make more sexy sounds, they’re so good...”

Zexion was almost certainly bright red by now. “Yes, slow would be...” he started, but trailed off, flustered.

Demyx gingerly withdrew all three fingers to slick them even more, and replaced them once they were dripping with lube. Zexion exhaled heavily, remaining against Demyx’s shoulder.

“That feels better,” he murmured, closing his eyes. Demyx moved his fingers so meticulously, stretching him and brushing his prostate with practiced regularity. The motions were almost languid, more so than Demyx had even known he was capable of.

“Tell me when I can-... Uh, when you want...”

It was easy to melt for him. Demyx was so attentive, so _present_ , and Zexion moaned in place of an articulate response. He nodded, nuzzling Demyx’s shoulder and breathing through the shallow thrusts of his fingers until he just couldn’t wait anymore. He drew back, took in Demyx’s flushed face, and smiled faintly.

“Keep going, please,” he murmured.

Demyx bit his lip in an attempt to hold _something_ back, taking his fingers out one at a time.

“Oh!” he remembered, belated. “Condom! S’in my pocket...”

“Oh,” Zexion had almost been distracted by the loss of his fingers. Feeling _odd_ , he got up off of him to look for Demyx’s ratty jeans, having a distant memory of where he dropped them.

Admiring Zexion, Demyx added, “Unless you don’t like condoms. I’m clean, like I said.”

Zexion’s thoughts slammed to a dead end. Alarm showed disproportionately on his face, and Demyx blinked.

“Hey, it’s okay! I don’t like, bareback often, and I am _totally_ good with condoms,” he reassured him.

It took a few seconds for Zexion to find his voice, nonetheless. “I don’t mean to say-... I don’t have-...” He cleared his throat. “It doesn’t offend you if I would rather have the condom?”

“Nope,” Demyx grinned. He tilted his head, wordlessly requesting that Zexion come back now that he had the foil square from Demyx’s pocket. Relaxing, a smile came to Zexion’s lips over the thought of being compatible in another way. The smile only faded when his lips became occupied by Demyx’s again, and he would be so embarrassed later about how blatantly eager he was but for the moment...

Zexion kissed and touched while Demyx worked open the condom with a skill that came from _plenty_ of experience. He rolled it over his cock and hastily found the lube next, his own kisses landing everywhere. There was some fumbling, and Zexion vaguely considered that, in erotica, this would be where he did something to look alluring.

Best not to try too hard at the moment, though, because he needed to find a position that gave Demyx access without accidentally kicking him... Or pulling a muscle...

Luckily, Demyx knew what he was doing there, too. With an easy laugh, he encouraged Zexion to lie back and lift one leg, then slicked himself a bit more thoroughly.

“Shouldn’t you check the muscle is still relaxed?” Zexion suggested, cheeks hot.

“’Kay.” Demyx was happy to run his fingers against his entrance again, lightly teasing him back open. They’d barely been apart for a minute so he was still pliant, but the touch was extremely welcome; Zexion was surprised at the twinge of warm static.

Kissing his knee, Demyx rubbed his cheek against it and adjusted their position just a little before taking his hand away and guiding his cock inside instead. He sighed, ecstatic, and Zexion’s gasp was louder than he’d expected.

It was always _strange_ , being invaded, but... This was as close to Demyx as it was possible to be, and he _loved_ that.

“Mm... You okay?”

Zexion nodded absently, breathing deep. “Yes, this is just new to me...”

“Wh – really?” Demyx’s breath caught, suddenly dizzy with heat. “ _Whoa_.”

Carefully, Zexion spread his legs wider to ease the pressure. “What...?”

“Just... that’s hot.” Demyx flushed. “Never done this with, you know.”

“O-oh.” Zexion realized too late that he’d just implied he was a virgin. There was a chilling jolt that mixed unpleasantly with embarrassment, and he tightened accidentally.

Demyx didn’t seem to mind _at all_. He moaned, unabashed, and was all the more conscious of being gentle as he moved. “Oh fuck.”

Snapping back from his scattered thoughts, Zexion caught the look on Demyx’s face and the pitch of his voice and decided he didn’t care about anything else. His breath escaped as a low, cracked moan.

“You’re so warm and tight and sexy, oh my god,” Demyx praised. The words hit something deep, a base lust beyond Zexion’s infatuation, and the tension subsided.

“Come here.” Zexion’s voice was steadier than he felt. He was figuring out how they fit together, and drew him close by a grip around his shoulders. Demyx knew how to move Zexion’s legs, keeping him as comfortable as possible while kissing him again.

Nothing was calculated anymore. Zexion just gave himself over to instinct, messy and selfish; he was in the moment, blocking out every thought about how he got here or what to do next or what would come _after_.

Demyx rolled his hips, thrusts slow and easy and he didn’t want to overwhelm him but he was too tempted to resist. He brought his hand down to Zexion’s cock, forming a loose fist around it and letting the motion encourage Zexion to buck into it. Sensation wiped the final vestiges of thought out of Zexion’s head. He broke the kiss, clutched at Demyx, and moaned.

“S’okay,” Demyx hummed, pleased. “I’ve got you, just feel it...”

Fuck. He was so warm, and it was so easy now to be lulled into this fantasy that this was really about _him_. Demyx murmured praise, stroked him in perfect rhythm, and Zexion pulsed with every word. He wrapped his arms snugly around Demyx and shivered.

“Anh...!”

“Getting close, you feel amazing, you’re doing really good,” Demyx went on, drunk on momentary affection.

If Zexion’s lips weren’t right by his ear, he wouldn’t have heard him whimper softly, “Just keep doing that-... _Dem-yx_...”

“ _Oh_ fuck.” Demyx didn’t think he’d ever heard his name like that before. Dizzy and electric, Zexion found Demyx’s hand and encouraged him to stroke just a little more, all the motion was fluid and getting faster, he was so close now -

The dam broke for Demyx first, and feeling him tense and shudder did Zexion in. He lost himself to the wonderful, warm feeling of being _needed, connected,_ it was so blindingly _good_ that he wanted it again already.

Zexion’s thoughts were, for once, incoherent. Demyx snuggled him close as he carefully withdrew, letting Zexion burrow against his shoulder.

“You did so good, holy shit. You okay?” Demyx panted. He removed the condom and tied it off, but barely parted from Zexion to do it.

Zexion just hummed. Words weren’t happening just yet.

“Mm, good...”

For a few seconds, they lay together like that. Then awareness returned with a trembling start as Zexion realized he was still being held.

“S’it okay if I sleep with you? I’m so comfy,” Demyx murmured, content.

Zexion was at a loss, didn’t _dare_ to hope that meant... “You want to stay?”

“Yeah! That okay?” Demyx shifted, wanting to look at him.

“... Certainly,” Zexion swallowed. “Would you like to borrow a towel to shower?”

At that, Demyx practically bounced out of bed, reinvigorated. “Oh, yeah, you’re the best.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll go first,” Zexion said, careful.

“You don’t wanna shower together?”

Zexion looked blank. “Together?”

“If you want,” Demyx grinned. “I’d blow you too, if you felt like it.”

“But we just-...” How had he bounced back _already?_

Demyx drew Zexion to him. “We don’t gotta,” he reassured him, kissing his cheek. “You go shower, then! Can I raid your fridge?”

Zexion stared. “If you’d like, but I could easily make you something after I’ve finished.”

“It’s cool,” Demyx dismissed. “I think I’ll crash after I shower.”

Nodding slowly, Zexion stood and went for one of his neatly folded towels. “Of course.”

“Awesome, thanks!” Demyx headed out and to the kitchen, leaving Zexion bewildered.

That... wasn’t how he’d thought the aftermath would go. _None_ of this lined up with any of his plans, honestly.

He wrapped the towel around his hips and went to shower. Zexion mindfully took as little time as possible, but still returned to his bedroom to find that Demyx had passed out in his bed right after grabbing a snack.

... An unconventional way to begin the rest of their lives, but... Zexion was going to work this all into a new plan. A better plan.

This would work.


End file.
